


Cave Inimicum

by soul_writerr



Series: Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Curses, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Friendship, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Mystery, Quidditch, School, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-10-14 17:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20604905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul_writerr/pseuds/soul_writerr
Summary: Sonny Carisi and Rafael Barba are 6th year students at Hogwarts, and they're having the best time together. Quidditch practice, learning spells, and first kisses - it's all going great, except for the curse that's going around school and hurting Half-Bloods.





	1. The Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write a Hogwarts AU for literal months, but the right idea hadn't come to me until now. And just in time for this to be my 50th work here!! 
> 
> Fun fact: CAVE INIMICUM is a protective spell and its etymology comes from a Latin phrase that means "beware of the enemy".
> 
> I wrote this under the assumption that everybody who reads it knows what the Harry Potter series is all about, but if you've been kind enough to give this a chance regardless of not knowing the setup (thank you for doing so), feel free to leave comments or DM me (@pastelpinktv) about anything you might not understand or doesn't seem familiar to you!
> 
> Just for the sake of the setting though, everyone currently in 6th year is 16 years old. Enjoy!!!

September 1st, and the return to Hogwarts meant more to Sonny than he could ever put into words. He loved his family, his hometown, but there was no place like Hogwarts. Nothing compared to sharing a dorm room with his friends, then having a feast for breakfast. And now that he was in 6th year, with the end of school so close, it felt almost bittersweet.

The train ride was loud, the corridors were filled with people sharing their summer stories. All compartments were full, mostly divided by houses. For the ride into Hogwarts it was always like that, friends meeting again after summer, but when it was time to go back home at the end of the school year, the groups were incredibly mixed. 

It was as if surviving another year of school and another round of exams provided inter-house unity like nothing else.

“Man, I’m excited for our first game,” Mike was saying, leaning against the window beside Sonny.

“I can’t be excited yet, we’ve lost a Beater and a Chaser, Mike,” Sonny whined, throwing his head back. “Why did I think it was a good idea to have 7th years on the team.”

“Because they were good, you made good choices,” Mike punched him lightly on the arm. “Besides, you better keep your eyes on the younger crowd. You’ll need to train someone to take your place next year.”

“Christ, Mike, let me make my seat warm before you count me out,” he huffed. “I just made Captain last year, I’m not thinking about leaving my post just yet.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that time goes by so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday we made into the team.” 

“Yeah, it’s weird,” Sonny nodded, looking out the window with a pensive look. “I just hope we win the Cup this year.”

“I’m confident we will,” Mike said with a bright smile. “You’ve got the best Keeper on your team, after all.”

“You say that, but you know I have to draft the whole team again,” Sonny teased with a lopsided grin. “If there’s someone better…”

“Don’t you dare, Carisi,” he growled, pointing an accusatory finger at Sonny.

He laughed, waving Mike off. “You’re so gullible,” Sonny paused, considering his best friend for a moment. “Have you told your father you don’t wanna go into the Auror program?”

“No,” Mike tutted. “I’m having second thoughts, Sonny. It might not be the worst idea.”

“Mike,” Sonny started tentatively. “You always say that when you spend a long time at home. You know he gets to you.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sagged. “But he’s the Head Auror, Sonny. It’s almost a guarantee that I’ll get in.”

“Is that what you want, then? To get in because your father’s the boss?”

“No. But it’s hard to give up on something that’s guaranteed to try my luck on something else that might not even work out.” 

Sonny nodded. “I understand. Either way, the Aurors will take you whenever you feel ready. It doesn’t have to be immediately after Hogwarts, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Mike shrugged. “But enough with the existential questions. Tell me, have you seen Barba yet?,” he asked with wiggle of his eyebrows. Sonny snorted.

“Yeah, at the station. He was with his mother, though, I didn’t want to bother him.”

“Right,” he shifted in his seat. “You’re the only one, then. Half of the student body was staring.”

Sonny rolled his eyes. “They always stare.”

“Can you blame them, Sonny? Everybody’s heard the story,” Mike said, trying to sound sympathetic. “It’s like hearing about unicorns your whole life. When you finally see one, you’re gonna wanna look, right?”

“That’s an awful comparison,” he scowled. “She’s a  _ person _ , not a mythical being for people to ogle. It’s not fair.” 

“I agree, but still--”

“Mike. I don’t care. People shouldn’t stare. Imagine how that makes her feel,” Sonny shook his head, frustrated. He sank into his seat. “How it makes  _ him _ feel, having to live in the shadow of a story like that.” 

“Fine. You’re right. I’m sorry,” Mike sighed, running a hand over his face, then looking out into the hallway. “Where’s the trolley lady, anyway? I’m dying for some fudge flies.”

“The corridor’s packed, I doubt she’ll make it here,” Sonny said, then stood up. “I’ll go find her. Fudge flies, yeah?”

Mike nodded, reaching into his pocket for some coins. “And some exploding bonbons if there are any left.” 

“Be right back.”

It wasn’t hard to find the candy trolley, considering how colorful and obnoxious it was, but there were so many people around it was hard to break through the crowd to get to it. He greeted some people on the way, until a couple Gryffindors struck up conversation about the year’s Quidditch team and successfully distracted him from his goal, but eventually he got there.

As soon as the crowd spat Sonny out, he caught sight of Rafael, a bag of jelly slugs in one hand and a pack of sherbet lemons in the other. He was looking between the two with a small frown, the tip of his tongue poking between his lips. Sonny smiled, very much aware that Rafael took his sweets very seriously. 

“Hey, Barba,” Sonny greeted, approaching him as casually as he could. “Nice seeing you again.”

Rafael looked up, his frown melting away. “Carisi. You, too. Did you have a good summer?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he smiled brightly. “You know my sisters, it’s always loud.”

When they’d started at Hogwarts, his eldest sisters Gina and Theresa were still attending. Gina was on her 5th year then, and Theresa on 7th year. Both were in Slytherin, so Sonny being sorted into Hufflepuff had come as a bit of a surprise to the family, but his parents celebrated his sorting regardless.

By now Gina and Theresa were long gone and finished with school, but Bella had started just the year before, and had also been sorted into Hufflepuff. Sonny thought it made sense, they’d always been very alike.

Rafael laughed lightly. “I bet. How are Gina and Theresa, then? Last time you said they were both trying to get the same job at Madam Malkin’s.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Sonny laughed. “Gina got it. Theresa wouldn’t speak to her for two weeks, but she’s got a job in the Daily Prophet.”

Rafael’s eyebrows went up. “She’s a journalist now?”

“Not at all. She’s working at the front desk. She says it’s temporary, until Gina gets fired and she can try for the other spot again.”

Rafael laughed again, louder this time. “Your sisters really are entertaining.”

“That’s the Carisis for you,” he grinned, shrugging nonchalantly. 

“You’re hogging the cart, dears,” the trolley lady said with a knowing sparkle in her eye.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rafael said quickly, putting the sherbet lemons back in place and handing her a couple coins for the jelly slugs. “Thanks. See you later, Carisi.”

“You will,” Sonny said, then blushed, feeling a little awkward. “It’s nice seeing you again.”

Rafael smirked. “So you’ve said.”

He walked away and Sonny groaned inwardly. 

“And for you, dear?,” the lady asked, that same  _ look  _ on her round, kind face. “Maybe some sherbet lemons?”

Sonny perked up, nodding quickly. “Yeah, yeah. Give me two packs. And some fudge flies and a box of butterscotch, two chocolate frogs and a couple exploding bonbons.”

The lady put everything inside a little bag, giggling as she went. Sonny was about to shoot off, mentally willing the woman to go faster before he lost sight of Rafael in the mess that was the Hogwarts Express.

He handed her a handful of coins and bolted after the Ravenclaw, calling out for him in the midst of booming laughter and animated conversation.

“Rafael, wait!,” he shouted, and almost tripped on a 1st year Slytherin. “Oof, sorry.”

“Easy there,” Rafael said, amused. “What happened?”

“Oh, I think you forgot these,” Sonny said charmingly, handing him the two packs of sherbet lemons, the large box of butterscotch's, and a chocolate frog.

“You don’t have to--,” Rafael started, shaking his head.

“I wanted to,” he shrugged. “Maybe you can share with Carmen and Rita.”

“Oh, this is for them, is it?,” he teased, and Sonny spluttered, blinking rapidly. “I’m just kidding, Sonny. Thank you.”

Rafael reached for Sonny’s shoulder and squeezed lightly, smiling. Sonny almost melted off the face of the Earth, then smiled back. This time, when Rafael turned away, Sonny stood there, watching him go with what was probably the most besotted look known to men.

* * *

Rafael still had the ghost of a smile when he stepped back into his compartment, but grunted loudly when he caught sight of Carmen and Rita making out shamelessly. 

“I was gone for five minutes!,” he protested, sitting across from them. 

“And if you were a good friend, you would have  _ stayed  _ gone,” Rita said sourly, keeping one arm around Carmen even as she ran a hand down her robes to straighten up. She spotted the mountain of candy in Rafael’s hands and raised an eyebrow at him. “Bought the entire trolley, did you?”

Rafael looked away, shrugging. “I bumped into Carisi, he--”

“Say no more,” Rita interrupted, and Carmen giggled.

“That’s very sweet of him,” Carmen half-teased, smiling knowingly. “I’m surprised he didn’t walk you back here.” 

Rafael huffed. “It’s mad outside, I swear the Hogwarts population doubled. Carisi ran over a 1st year trying to break through the crowd.” 

Carmen cooed, and Rita sniggered. 

“I hate you both,” he rolled his eyes. “ _ I  _ should have followed him back to his compartment instead of coming back here.”

“I agree,” Rita said with no hesitation, then shrugged when Carmen glared at her.

“Fine, then,” Rafael scoffed. “I’m going to find my  _ other  _ friends to tell them I was asked to be Ravenclaw’s Prefect.”

Rita and Carmen stared at him, blinking owlishly. Rafael smirked at their surprised expressions, very pleased with his delivery of such announcement. Then, after a couple more seconds of confused silence, Rita started cursing everything under the sun as Carmen congratulated him.

“I  _ knew  _ it,” Carmen beamed. “And I told you so.”

Rafael laughed. “Yes, you did.”

“You absolute  _ nerd _ , of course you’d be their first choice,” Rita said, snorting. “I bet you’ll be taking house points from me at the drop of a hat from now on.”

“Precisely. You better keep yourself checked, Calhoun,” he preened. 

“What about you?,” Carmed asked Rita tentatively. 

Rita scoffed, waving a hand. “With my tendency to not care for curfews whatsoever, there’s no way I’d be chosen as Slytherin’s Prefect.” 

Rafael knew Rita well enough to call bullshit. She’d always been incredibly competitive, choosing to challenge everyone and anyone. She was incredibly smart and witty, managing to talk herself in or out of pretty much whatever situation. 

Her powers of persuasion were unbeatable, and Rafael could even say he was surprised she hadn’t somehow convinced her Head of House to make her Slytherin’s Prefect.

Well, perhaps the fact that he was a Slytherin himself kind of made it harder to charm him. A paranoid bunch of aristocrats, the lot of them, always questioning everyone and their motives.

But instead of rubbing salt in Rita’s wound, Rafael offered her and Carmen one of the packs of sherbet lemons and opened his box of butterscotch. One after the other, he stuffed himself, thinking of the blush high on Sonny’s cheeks when he’d gifted Rafael.

He looked out the window with a sigh, Hogwarts already peeking out in the horizon. Rafael loved this place, despite the looks and whispers from 1st years at the beginning of every semester. It seemed that the story never got old, still somehow being spread around, from generation to generation. 

“Your mother seems well,” Carmen said softly, as if she was reading his mind. “Your grandmother didn’t come to see you off?”

Rafael shook his head. “She wasn’t feeling very well.”

“I’m sure she’ll write to you, though,” she offered sympathetically. “And send you those pastries you like.”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “She’s not as energetic as she used to be.” 

“Has she been to St. Mungo’s?,” Rita asked. “You know I can write to my mother about her, she’ll be more than happy to see to her.” 

“I appreciate that, Rita,” Rafael smiled meekly. “But it’s her choice, really. And she believes she’s fine. You know how she gets.”

“But with you being away in school, your mother is definitely going to try and convince her to see someone,” Carmen encouraged. “And your mother is very resourceful, she’ll find a way.” 

“Yes, she will,” he snorted. “Even if she has to take a nursing course herself.”

Rita smirked. “Gryffindors’ stubborness is good for  _ something _ , after all.”

Rafael rolled his eyes fondly. “Tell me about it.”

“Rafael,” Rita started. “Promise me you’re not going to turn into an entitled dickhead now that you’re a Prefect.”

He hummed, popping another candy in his mouth. “I make no promises, Rita. No promises at all.”

Rita groaned loudly and threw a sherbet lemon at him, to which Carmen protested loudly. Rafael took the candy out of its wrapping and pulled out his wand. With a precise flick of his wrist, he levitated it towards Carmen’s mouth, but when she went to take it, he pulled it away. 

Rafael laughed as she frowned, and Rita snatched the candy out of the air with an amused twinkle in her eyes, then ate it herself. Carmen rolled her eyes fondly at them, kissing Rita on the cheek. 

“We’re almost there,” Carmen said, reaching for another sherbet lemon. “I’m excited for Muggle Studies this year.”

Carmen was a Pureblood, and she was truly fascinated by all things Muggle. Rafael, a Half-Blood raised in a Muggle neighborhood, really couldn’t see the appeal, preferring to take Ancient History classes instead. 

“I’m looking forward to finally learning to apparate,” Rafael said. “McCoy’s teaching it, did you hear?” 

Rita let out an annoyed  _ blergh _ . “I guess it isn’t enough that I’m taking that class with Gryffindors, I have to deal with McCoy, too?” 

“He’s our Head of House, Rita. You’re not going to get any sympathy from us,” Rafael said amusedly, then frowned once he realized his box of candy was now empty. 

Rita hummed, smirking at Rafael. “I know why you’re actually interested in Apparition classes.”

Rafael gave her a  _ look _ . “Yes. I just said that our Head of House is teaching that class.”

“No, it’s because you’re taking it with Hufflepuffs,” she said haughtily, and Rafael wanted to hex the snobbish look off of her face. “I bet you’ll pair up with your wonder boy, won’t you?”

“You’re one to talk. You’re only taking Muggle Studies to pair up with Carmen,” he said dryly.

“Yes, but Carmen’s my girlfriend,” Rita shrugged, unbothered. “How much longer will you pretend you’re not trying to get into Carisi’s pants?”

Rafael huffed, and looked away. He wished he hadn’t gone through his butterscotchs so fast, but at least he still had a pack of sherbet lemons for himself and a chocolate frog. Ripping the pack open, he proceeded to stuff his mouth with the lemon candy until they finally reached Hogwarts.

If he ignored Rita for the rest of the ride it was only because he had his mouth full, and not because she was right and he hated her for it.


	2. Quidditch Tryouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonny has a very, very tough decision to make, and a Half-Blood is attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Quidditch scenes has proven to be very cool, so I hope you like reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> And thank you to everyone who has already subscribed to this, I really appreciate it <3
> 
> PS: if you have no idea how Quidditch works, here's our beloved Oliver Wood explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thL8QAsPhK0

On their very first night back, Sonny had posted the call on the common room notice board for anyone interested in joining Hufflepuff’s Quidditch Team. Now it was Thursday, the day of the tryouts, and Sonny’s excitement had been taken over by dread. 

There were five new names on the list, three for the position of Chaser, one for the position of Beater, and one for the position of Keeper. Mike’s position. 

Sonny had joked about it before because he honestly didn’t think that anyone would sign up for that position. He had made it clear on his call that they had two spots for Chasers, and one for a new Beater. But regardless, if someone signed up, they had the right to be drafted. Even if it was for Mike’s spot.

Hell, if someone signed up for Sonny’s position as Seeker they’d be drafted too, even though he was the Captain. He just hoped Mike would understand. And he hoped the person who signed up wasn’t better than Mike - if they were, Sonny would be in deep trouble.

As he made his way to the Quidditch pitch, Sonny wondered if Mike had seen the list. He honestly hoped he had, that way he’d be ready to give his all during tryouts, and Sonny wouldn’t have to be the one to tell him. 

“Hey, Carisi,” Nick Amaro, Gryffindor’s team Captain, called as Sonny stepped out of the castle. He was wearing his gear as well, helmet under his arm. “I left the brooms out for you, by the Hufflepuff stands.”

Sonny nodded, waving politely at him. “Thanks, Amaro. Good tryout?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick smiled. “We’ve got some good new additions. You better watch out. First game is supposed to be the two of us.” 

“You’re all talk, Nick,” Sonny waved him off, showing him the list of names he had. “I’m building a stronger team, don’t you worry.” 

Nick hummed. “Let’s see. Good luck!”

“Thanks,” Sonny beamed, feeling a bit livelier as he made his way down to the pitch. 

There was already a group of people waiting, all dressed in their yellow and black gear, brooms in hand. A few people were warming up, stretching and making laps on their brooms, others were setting up the balls. The snitch was yet to be released - that was Sonny’s part.

Sonny spotted Mike by the goals, throwing a quaffle from one side to the other and flying to catch it. He sighed, but picked up his broom and flew up, calling everybody to gather around. 

“Hello, everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Sonny Carisi, Captain of the Hufflepuff team. I play as your Seeker. Currently there are two openings for Chaser and one for Beater, and you’ll be drafted into the position you’re better suited for,” he said confidently, looking every person in the eye. He pulled out the list of names, and cleared his throat. “When I call your name, please raise your hand.”

He started to go down the list of names, along with the positions they were trying for. His teammates from the past year were all there, minus the 7th years who graduated, plus the five new people. It was quite a good turn-out, as far as Sonny was concerned. It’d give him a chance to better the team.

But when Sonny got to the name of the person trying out for the Keeper position, Silvia Martinez, he looked at Mike to gather his reaction. He barely blinked, and Sonny let out a relieved sigh. Mike knew, then.

“Okay. Release the bludgers, please,” Sonny asked one of the Beaters he already knew. “Dodds, can I have a word with you? Everybody else, wait in position.”

Sonny flew to the other side of the pitch, Mike following close behind. He swallowed hard before he spoke. “You saw the list, then?”

“Yeah, caught me by surprise,” Mike sighed. “I’m gonna do my best Sonny, but if she’s better than me you know what that means.” 

Sonny shook his head. “I don’t like this, Mike.”

“Neither do I, but here we are,” he shrugged. “I think this might be for the best, either way. With me being a Prefect now and thinking about joining the Aurors… maybe I should focus on that.” 

“Don’t throw in the towel just yet, please,” Sonny begged. “She might not be good at all for all we know.” 

“Or she might be amazing,” Mike smiled. “Come on, Sonny. It’s time to build Hufflepuff’s strongest team yet.”

Mike flew back to the group, and Sonny took a moment to breathe. Yes, he was going to give the spot to whoever was better, but he and Mike had always been together on the team. They went to the tryouts together, they made the team together, they played every game together. 

He couldn’t help but feel like this might be the end of an era.

But regardless of his heart being at his throat, Sonny joined the rest of the group and blew the whistle for the proverbial game to begin. Basically, Mike and Silvia were taking turns at the goals while the Chasers tried to score and the Beaters tried to keep the bludgers away.

Sonny was both amazed and horrified to see that Silvia was giving Mike a run for his money, defending the goals as efficiently as he did. She was smaller than Mike, and she used that to her advantage, zooming from one goal to another and outmaneuvering the Chasers brilliantly. 

By the time the game was over, none of the Chasers had managed to score on either Mike or Silvia, and Sonny was about to pull his hair out. What the hell was he supposed to do, then?

“Beaters,” Sonny called, his voice strong despite the wind. “Aim the bludgers towards the goals.”

He saw both Keepers’ eyes widen at the command, and Mike positioned himself in front of one of the goals and gulped. Sonny saw that his grip on his broom tightened. 

Mike managed to avoid the first and second bludgers, but the third flew through the middle goal, then boomeranged back and hit him on the shoulder. Mike grunted, nearly losing his balance on the broom, then straightened again. Sonny could see that Mike was getting tired, and bludger after bludger, his reflexes started getting slower.

Sonny yelled for Mike to switch with Silvia, and held his breath as the bludgers started flying towards her. This time, her smaller build really made a difference, and no Beater managed to score, nor did bludgers hit her. 

Silvia seemed to have more stamina too, because she just kept her focus sharp, even when three bludgers flew at her all at once. 

“Alright, enough,” Sonny called. “Let’s have a Beaters game now. Keepers and Chasers, take a break.” 

The Beaters all formed a circle, and as the bludgers flew towards them, they hit it towards each other. Sonny snorted as a 4th year shook on his broom and almost got a bludger to the face. As much as Sonny loved Quidditch, the game sure was dangerous.

After the Beaters circle, Sonny asked the Chasers to come back and have a round of going for the quaffle, with no intention of scoring. He wanted to evaluate how well they outflew each other for the ball.

Sonny made notes on each player, and had his mind half-made up by the time their turn on the Quidditch pitch was over. The Ravenclaw team was already warming up by the broom shack, but Sonny still had a problem. He couldn’t decide on a Keeper. 

Logistically speaking, Silvia did perform better, but Sonny knew Mike, he had seen him play. Mike was always at the top of his game, of that Sonny was sure, and he couldn’t vouch for Silvia’s game performance despite her talent. 

When Sonny’s feet hit the ground, Mike came running to him, broom over his shoulder.

“Sonny, you know Silvia did better than me,” he said immediately, panting. Sonny saw him roll his shoulder. 

“You should go see Madam Warner about your shoulder,” Sonny said. “And no, that wasn’t a fair game. We both know Keepers aren’t targeted by bludgers like that. It wasn’t a fair trial.”

“Yes, it was,” Mike argued, stomping his feet. Sonny almost laughed. “It does happen, Sonny. Remember last year when Slytherin’s Keeper was taken out by a bludger? Or when Ravenclaw lost because their Keeper defended the goal from a bludger and missed the quaffle? It _ does _happen, Sonny.” 

Sonny shook his head. “I’m going to ask Amaro to have a friendly game this weekend. You can play for half of the game, and Silvia the other half. That way, we’ll know for sure.”

Mike sighed. “Okay. But I won’t be mad at you if you choose her over me, Sonny. Not if she’s really the best for Hufflepuff.” 

“But you love Quidditch,” he said, pained, and threw his broom on the grass so he could take off his gloves. 

“And so does she,” Mike argued. “We were talking before you arrived. She’s wanted to try out since her 2nd year, Sonny, but she was scared. She finally got the nerve now, and she’s already on 5th year.”

Sonny gulped. He looked up at Mike, and he hated that he was going to choose someone else over his best friend. “After the game, Mike. Let me see how she holds it during an actual game, then I’ll know for sure.” 

“I know you’ll give her a real chance, Sonny,” he said softly, patting Sonny roughly on the shoulder and smiling. “You’re a good Captain.”

Sonny smiled back. “And you’re a good Keeper.” 

“Meh,” Mike pulled a face. “You should go shower, though, you stink.” 

“Shut up,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Go see Madam Warner, you dick. You sure that bludger didn’t hit you on the head?”

“I can’t hear you,” Mike teased as he ran from Sonny towards Hufflepuff’s locker room. 

“I’ll get the Headmistress here, Dodds, don’t test me!”

* * *

Over dinner, Rafael found himself trying to explain the functions of certain Muggle electronics to a very interested Carmen. Apparently her Muggle Studies class had started off by exploring the closest thing Muggles had to magic: technology.

“I mean, it’s fascinating that they’ve made their lives so much easier even without magic,” she was saying enthusiastically. “We have spells for everything, they have _ appliances _for everything.”

Rafael snorted. “You’ll soon find that having appliances for everything has some very unexpected consequences, Carmen. For starters, most of them need electricity and consumption has really gotten out of hand.” 

“Electricity?,” she frowned.

“Yes, like energy, power, it’s what makes the appliances work. You plug it in, and it turns on. Without that, it doesn’t work.”

Carmen’s frown deepened as she thought deeply about it. “And what happens if there’s no electricity? It seems incredibly foolish to depend on something that’s not a given.”

“What happens is that it’s chaotic,” Rafael laughed. “Muggles are trying to invest in power sources that can generate electricity in a more reliable way, like sunlight and wind, but there’s still a long way to go.” 

“Sunlight and wind?,” she nodded, looking impressed. “That’s certainly creative. I’ll ask Professor Ellis more about that, maybe he’ll know some books on the subject.”

Rafael hummed. “The Muggle section in the library has quite a lot of options, but I don’t recall anything about how they generate electricity.” 

“I’ll ask Headmistress Barth, then. We must have them if we’re learning about it,” Carmen said, resolute, and added more jam to her scone. “Did you know Sonny is taking this class?”

Rafael frowned. He hadn’t seen Sonny in Ancient History, but he hadn’t given thought to the possibility of him taking Muggle Studies. 

“I thought it was Ravenclaws and Slytherins.” 

“No, it’s a smaller class, so it’s very mixed. There are even a couple Gryffindors, too,” she shrugged. “I wasn’t surprised, though. His Head of House teaches it, after all.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he nodded. “He’s Pureblood, as I’m sure most of the other students in that class are, too. I’d be surprised to see Muggleborns and Half-Bloods there.”

“You’re right, it’s all Purebloods,” Carmen considered. “But I was thinking maybe you could offer Sonny some tutoring, right? You’re an expert, after all.”

Rafael choked on his sip of juice. Not because he was shocked or anything, but because he wanted to laugh at her suggestion. 

“Carmen, I don’t think--,” Rafael’s dismissal was lost when the Great Hall doors banged open and the Gryffindor Prefect came in running towards the high table, stopping in front of the Headmistress.

Everybody watched silently as she whispered something, and the Headmistress stood up, alarmed. The Great Hall was dead quiet, all students confused at the comotion. 

Without saying anything, Headmistress Barth, Professor Cragen, who was the Gryffindor Head of House, and the Prefect ran out. 

“What the hell was that?,” someone from the Slytherin table shouted, and the room exploded in murmurs and confusion. 

“Well, that’s unusual,” Carmen murmured, and Rafael nodded, looking over at the Gryffindor table. Everyone looked as alarmed as Rafael felt, and a few of the older students started to get up, probably on their way back to their common room. 

“What should we do?,” Carmen asked, turning to the Slytherin table to gather Rita’s reaction.

“I don’t know,” Rafael frowned, noting that Sonny wasn’t amongst the Hufflepuff crowd. “I’ll ask Professor McCoy.”

Their Head of House was still at the high table, talking in low hushes to two other professors. 

“Excuse me, Professor,” Rafael said, nodding at the teachers in greeting. “We were wondering if anything’s the matter.” 

“We’re not sure yet, Mr. Barba,” McCoy said shortly, unsure.

Rafael sagged. “And how should I proceed, sir? Should we go back to our common room?”

“It’d be best to wait for Headmistress Barth to return. Make sure Ravenclaw stays calm so we can assess the situation before making any decisions, alright?” 

“Of course, sir,” Rafael nodded, then made his way back to the Ravenclaw table.

“Anything?,” Carmen asked immediately. 

Rafael shook his head. “He doesn’t know anything, I don’t think. He seemed as confused as we are. We better wait for the Headmistress to return.”

They were silent as they waited, Rafael barely managing to eat anything else out of worry. He had never seen Barth _ run _anywhere. The Headmistress had a presence that made everyone wait for her with bated breath, no matter how fast or slow she was. 

And it also seemed weird that Dodds was having dinner at the Hufflepuff table when there was no sign of Sonny. The two were practically glued at the hip, hardly seen without the other. 

Much to Rafael’s relief, though, Sonny chose that moment to walk into the Great Hall, talking animatedly with Gryffindor’s Quidditch team Captain. The two seemed to be completely unaware of anything that might be wrong, but he saw Olivia approach Nick quickly, pulling him to the Gryffindor table with hushed words.

Sonny frowned at the two, then looked around, noticing the apparent panic in the air. Dodds waved him over, worried, and seemed to reprimand Sonny for his absence. 

Rafael saw the moment Dodds told him about what was going on, and Sonny’s eyes immediately scanned the Ravenclaw table until he spotted Rafael.

“What happened?,” he mouthed at Rafael.

Rafael shook his head. “I don’t know.” 

Headmistress Barth returned half an hour later, accompanied by Gryffindor’s Head of House, who looked extremely worried. Rafael’s gut clenched at the sight, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the Headmistress, hoping she’d give them an idea of what was going on.

But she simply reached the high table, spoke quietly to the teachers, then left again. 

One by one, the teachers started making their way out of the Great Hall, and the Heads of House ordered all students to follow their Prefects to their common rooms, watching closely as students formed lines to leave.

“Ravenclaws, follow me,” Rafael said as confidently as he could, standing at the front of the line. “1st years in the front, please, and 7th years in the far back. Keep an eye on the youngest.” 

With his heart beating fast in his chest, Rafael marched Ravenclaw House back to their tower. He had no idea what was going on, but it couldn’t be good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the barisi in this was minimal, but chapters 3 and 4 are basically all them being gay, so PLEASE don't give up on me yet! 
> 
> Chapter 3 will be up on wednesday with a very worried Rafael, Sonny embarassing himself in front of him, and the headmistress has a few things to say... hope to see you then! <3 don't forget to leave kudos and comments, please!


	3. The Half-Blood Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonny should not be out late. There have been more attacks, and students are worried - Rafael especially, given his family history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the first chapter I wrote for this story! The first scene in this was the first scene I wrote lmao I gotta say it's one of my favorites, so I hope you like it too!

Sonny loved the castle at night, after curfew. It was quiet, warm, the lights were low, and he could almost feel the magic around the grand towers of Hogwarts, humming with life, pumping, almost like a pulsing heart. 

He was lucky that, being Hufflepuff’s Quidditch Team Captain, he had a permit for late practices that allowed him to wander around without being hounded by House Prefects. 

Or so he thought, until he turned a corner and was met with Ravenclaw’s Prefect annoyed glare.

“Carisi,” Rafael hissed, marching towards him. “Do you not know what time it is?”

Sonny smiled. “I do, actually. But as you know, I have a permit.”

“I don’t care about your permit,” he rolled his eyes. “Headmistress Barth was very clear during dinner, no students roaming the corridors after curfew.  _ No  _ exceptions.” 

“What are you doing here, then?,” Sonny asked mildly, crossing his arms over his shoulders. “You’re the only Prefect I’ve seen all night, and I just walked by Gryffindor’s Tower.” 

“I  _ knew  _ someone would ignore the Headmistress’ orders, so I came out for a late round myself. I’m not at all surprised that you’ve decided to ignore her warnings, but you really went up Gryffindor’s tower?,” Rafael huffed, shaking his head disapprovingly. “10 points from Hufflepuff.” 

“What?!,” he yelped. “Barba, that’s not fair! I’m a Quidditch Captain, I’m allowed to stay out late for practice.” 

“Not tonight, Carisi. You heard Barth, I’m sorry,” to his credit, Rafael did look sorry. “You shouldn’t risk it, you know. Not until we know what’s going on. There are three students in the infirmary already.”

“Fine,” Sonny threw his hands up placatingly. “I’m gonna go back to Hufflepuff.”

“I won’t tell on you,” he added in quickly. “I won’t tell the Headmistress.” 

Sonny snorted. “And I won’t tell the Hufflepuff Prefect there’s a couple of Ravenclaws stargazing in the courtyard.” 

He laughed as Rafael threw his head back, groaning. “Night, Carisi,” he said, then rushed towards the yard, muttering to himself about stupid people breaking school rules. 

“Always a pleasure, Barba,” Sonny yelled after him, amused.

Sonny did make his way down to the Hufflepuff common room after that. Not because he was scared, he could very well defend himself, but nobody actually knew what was going on. Some people thought it was a curse, some people thought it was poison, other people thought it was a Dark wizard, but the problem remained. 

Hogwarts students were falling ill out of nowhere, all with the same symptoms, all rendered unconscious, their magic seemingly frozen inside their bodies. They were still alive, still breathing, but nothing seemed to work on them - no revitalizing spell nor potion. It was like they were sleeping an unshakable sleep, and nobody knew what was going to happen when they woke up. If they woke up. 

Walking into the warm common room, Sonny spotted Mike by the window, eating Chocolate Frogs, his Prefect badge pinned to his robe.

“Hey Mike,” he greeted, sitting across from his best friend. “Are you not making rounds tonight?”

“I did,” Mike said, his mouth full. “I went earlier, after Barth’s speech over dinner. Scary business, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Sonny frowned. “I just bumped into Barba, though.”

“Oh yeah, he said he’d stay later,” Mike shrugged. “I think Gryffindor’s Prefect is out as well.”

“No, I just went by the tower, only Barba’s out.”

Mike tilted his head. “You shouldn’t be wandering around Gryffindor tower, Sonny. And Barba shouldn’t be making rounds alone.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Sonny stood up, ready to go out and look for Barba again, tell him to stop being a hero and go back to Ravenclaw tower, but Mike grabbed his wrist.

“You’re not supposed to be out at this hour, Sonny, you’ll cost us House points.”

Sonny sat back down sheepishly, nodding. 

Mike chuckled. “You already did, didn’t you? Barba took House points. Of course he did.” 

“I mean, he’s right,” he offered meekly. “I shouldn’t be out.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Mike punched him in the arm, and Sonny hissed. 

Mike pushed a chocolate frog towards Sonny and settled back in his seat with another one, still looking exasperatedly amused. Sonny ignored him, and ripped the box open, grabbing the frog before it jumped out. He stuffed it in his mouth, feeling the magic fizzle on his tongue. 

When Sonny pulled out the wizard card, he turned it to see Hogwarts’ Founder Rowena Ravenclaw blinking at him, and sighed. He hoped Rafael would go back to Ravenclaw’s Tower soon, and safely. 

* * *

The next morning when Sonny walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, his eyes immediately went to the Ravenclaw table. He scanned it from side to side, looking for a familiar pair of green eyes.

Sonny breathed a sigh of relief when he finally caught sight of Rafael, seemingly in deep conversation with Carmen. But only seemingly, because as soon as Sonny spotted him, Barba looked up and saw him. 

“Glad you made it to your common room in one piece,” he teased with a slight smirk. 

Sonny shrugged. “The kitchens aren’t as dangerous as the towers. You found those Ravenclaws?”

Rafael huffed, annoyed. “Yeah, 3rd years, you know how it is.”

“I can barely remember,” Sonny waved him off jokingly, then smiled and nodded his goodbye, heading to the Hufflepuff table with lighter steps.

“Dude,” Mike started, sniggering. “You’ve got it so bad.” 

“Shut up,” he hushed with a push to Mike’s shoulder. “We’ve been paired up in Charms for 4 years, we’re friends.” 

“Right. Well, I just hope that you two being paired up in Apparition now doesn’t mean you’re gonna splinch yourself.” 

“Why would I?,” Sonny frowned.

“Because you need to  _ focus _ on your destination, Sonny. How are you gonna manage that when all you can think about is falling into Barba’s arms?” 

Sonny closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Dodds, I swear to God, I  _ will _ hex your mouth zipped closed.” 

“As if. You’d miss talking to me too much,” he said confidently. And worst thing was he was right.

* * *

Much like Mike had guessed, Apparition classes weren’t the most easygoing. 

They were supposed to take turns apparating from one side of the room to the other. There were circles on the floor for them to focus on their destination, but Sonny did find himself focusing on Rafael instead.

That meant that, more than once, Sonny had apparated himself smack into Barba’s chest, and everytime he did that, Professor McCoy took 10 points from Hufflepuff.

By the time the class was over, Sonny had lost his House 40 points. Mike was shooting daggers at him, and Rafael was less than pleased about Sonny stepping on his foot repeatedly. 

“Christ Carisi, you never struggled with spells before,” Rafael half-panted, looking quite frazzled as he, once again, spelled his shoes clean. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m going to work on my concentration.” 

Rafael narrowed his eyes. “Right. I’ll make sure to wear harder shoes next time.” 

Sonny blushed. “Sorry.”

“Let me know if you want to practice after dinner,” he added lightly. ”I’ll be in the courtyard.” 

“Yeah. Okay,” Sonny nodded quickly, then waved him goodbye. ”See you, Barba.”

As soon as Rafael was gone, Mike was on him. “When I said earlier that you were going to apparate straight into Barba I was actually joking, but what  _ the hell  _ was that, Sonny? 40 points?”

Sonny rolled his eyes, raising a hand to stop his tirade. “Save it, Mike. I’m already embarrassed enough as it is.” 

* * *

Rafael was doing his best to keep a straight face, but the truth was that these  _ attacks _ on students were scaring the hell out of him.

They’d been happening in random intervals, and all three attacks had been on Gryffindors so far, but they had all been Half-Bloods, like Rafael himself. 

He knew that, somewhere down in history, Half-Bloods had been looked down on. Blood purists believed they were traitors, diluting their power by fraternizing with Muggles or Muggleborns. So Rafael was scared, because everybody knew about his father, and he was sure that made him a big target. 

Because his father had been the only Muggle in history who had ever tried to strip a magical person of their magic. His mother’s magic. 

Rafael didn’t like dwelling on it, he didn’t pay attention to the tales, and as much as people liked to remind him of that story, his father was long gone, and Rafael much preferred to forget. His mother was fine, her magic was still intact, and she had escaped from him and returned to the wizarding world.

He had been just a toddler when it happened, and he didn’t remember much, but he did remember his mother’s panic when she shook him awake that night. She had whispered about taking him somewhere safe, and she’d apparated them to his grandmother’s house.

They never went back after that. 

However, the story was infamous. It made the rounds amongst families, and it was used to still fear in people, as an example of how vicious Muggles could be. Yes, Muggles could be vicious, but so could Purebloods, and a clear example of that was the current attacks on Half-Blood students.

“Barba,” someone greeted, and Rafael recognized the voice even thought he was whispering. They were in the library, after all. “Can I sit with you?”

Rafael nodded. “Go right ahead.”

He said nothing as Sonny got settled beside him, opening his bag and pulling out rolls of parchment, books, quills and a bottle of ink.

“What have you got there?,” he asked. “Potions assignment?”

“No,” Rafael replied, not looking up. “I’m researching for curses designed specifically for Half-Bloods.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sonny shift as he turned to Rafael. “Curses? You mean because of the attacks? You think this is the work of a blood purist?”

Rafael looked up them, measuring Sonny. He looked confused, staring at the book in front of Rafael. “Given that all students currently in the infirmary are Half-Bloods, I’d say it’s a fair guess.”

Sonny nodded, then opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Then he opened it again, and hesitated, shifting again.

“What, Carisi?,” he pressed, scowling. He knew Sonny was a Pureblood, but he’d never seen him hold an interest in blood status in any way.

“I don’t mean to sound like an ass,” Sonny started tentatively, and Rafael braced himself. “But if all of Hogwarts’ professor, the Headmistress and Madam Warner, plus the Aurors and the specialists, can’t figure out what’s wrong, what makes you think you can?”

Rafael sighed, sagging in his seat. He had been asking himself the same thing. Ever since the second attack, Aurors had been coming and going constantly. They’d brought in Curse-Breakers, St. Mungo’s doctors, even Unspeakables, but it was no use. They couldn’t identify whatever it was that had knocked out three students.

“Sometimes the answer is much simpler than we realize,” Rafael said with a small shrug, trying to convince himself more than anything. 

“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” Sonny replied with a friendly smile, then went back to his Potions book. 

They worked silently together for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Rafael sat up straight in his seat, trying to come across as confident as he possibly could in the Headmistress’ office. He was waiting for her to finish writing a letter, but the  _ scritch, scritch, scritch _ of the quill on parchment was driving him absolutely spare.

“Just a second, Mr. Barba,” Barth said politely, and Rafael clenched his jaw. 

Time was such a valuable thing, and he didn’t want to waste it. He had more research to do. He really thought he was getting close to something, he felt like things were starting to make sense. Rafael had narrowed down his research to curses. He knew it wasn’t poison, Madam Warner was very thorough and found no trace of any dark substance.

He was also certain that there was no Dark Wizard roaming the castle. That was impossible, there were wards around Hogwarts against perpetrators, and with Aurors visiting the school practically everyday, there was no way.

So that only left curses, probably errant, ancient residual magic that had somehow found its way into the castle. He’d heard a thing or two about that in Ancient History classes.

“Mr. Barba,” Barth called, pulling him out of his train of thought. “It has come to my attention that you’ve been spending an awful lot of time in the library.”

Rafael blinked. “Yes, Headmistress. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” she smiled. “Except it seems you’re very interested in finding out what’s happened to the student in the infirmary.”

“I’m sure you can understand why,” he said, trying not to sound petulant. “They’re all Half-Bloods, as am I.”

“Yes, but they’re Gryffindors, and you are not,” Barth argued, but not unkindly. “I appreciate you trying to help, and I understand your concerns, Mr. Barba, but it’s not for you to worry about. We have the very best of professionals handling this case.”

“I know that, Headmistress. And I don’t doubt their competence, but I can’t just sit around and do nothing,” he said frustratingly. 

“But you must,” she said, and stood up, rounding her large desk to stand before him. “You’re a 6th year, Mr. Barba. You’re taking NEWT level classes, not to mention you’re Ravenclaw’s Prefect. I also know you tutor one or two students on your free time, so you have your plate quite full.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t help.”

Barth sighed. “Yes, it does, Rafael. Right now, all I want is for you to focus on getting through the school year, okay? It’s not your responsibility to figure out what’s happening. Do you trust me?”

Rafael swallowed. “Of course.”

“Then believe me when I say you have nothing to worry about,” she smiled. “Please, promise me you’ll focus on your classes and not on trying to solve this on your own.” 

He felt put on the spot, being under the Headmistress’ intense gaze, but nodded. “I’ll do my best, Headmistress.”

“Good,” Barth nodded, satisfied. “You’re a very intelligent young man, Mr. Barba. What careers paths are you considering?”

“Healing, perhaps,” Rafael said, mostly because of his grandmother. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself yet.

“If you’d like my advice, consider Curse-Breaking, Mr. Barba,” she offered kindly, waving her hand in the air, and two pamphlets fell into Rafael’s lap. “I believe a mind like yours would quite enjoy the challenge.”

“Thank you,” Rafael whispered, very much amazed by the magical words flying across the papers in front of him. “I’ll consider it, Headmistress.”

“Splendid. Now go on, Rafael. I’m sure you have a full day ahead,” with a nod of her head, Headmistress Barth went back to her chair and continued to write, seemingly at peace.

Rafael nodded his goodbye, stood up and left her office, somehow feeling both told off and encouraged at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do we think so far? Any guesses what's going on? Anything you would like to see going forward? I would love to hear your thoughts and hopes for this (or for the sequel that I'll most likely write lmao)
> 
> Please, leave a little comment, I'm in need of some validation! :(( ALAKLSAKASS MWAH see you on Monday with another barisi-centric episode! It's VERY gay <3


	4. Hogsmeade Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery remains, but Sonny and Rafael are a little distracted with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a very long week of uni work and missing trains, here we are with a cute little fluffy chapter to start off. Let me know what you think of this story so far in a comment!! I'm planning a sequel, so I'd love to hear what you want to see from this two boys - or the rest of the squad.

Rafael had barely slept the night before, going over both pamphlets the Headmistress had given him, then writing to his mother about it. He was utterly fascinated by the world of curse-breaking, and made a mental note to check the library for books on the subject the next day. 

However, it was now bright and early and he had a full day of classes, then an evening of studying with Sonny, then more researching - in secret -, and he was in desperate need of one, or two, cups of very strong tea. 

He was very much daydreaming of eggs and bacon, so he didn’t notice another student approaching until she was right beside him, but Rafael saw the red and gold colors before she even spoke. “Good morning, Rafael. You look like you need some caffeine in you.”

“Olivia,” he greeted with a small chuckle. “You know me too well. How are things in Gryffindor?”

Olivia shrugged, but Rafael saw her tense slightly. “You know us. Do we  _ ever _ feel defeated? But there is a certain air of… trepidation. Can’t be helped, especially not with the 1st years.” 

Rafael hummed in agreement, but wondered how Olivia was really feeling. To whomever asked, Olivia shamelessly said she was Muggleborn, but she had once confided in Rafael that she wasn’t sure about her blood status. Olivia had never met her father, and her mother hadn’t known of the existence of the Wizarding World until her letter came when she turned 11. 

There was really no way of knowing if her father was a wizard or not. She didn’t even know his name, so she couldn’t look through magical records for clues. Rafael often wondered if she preferred not knowing, but in a time like this, when Half-Blood Gryffindors were being attacked, he was sure the uncertainty was taking its toll.

“I can only imagine,” Rafael said sympathetically. “Have you heard anything, then?”

Olivia sighed. “Not really. Not anything you haven’t heard as House Prefect. It’s weird, that they haven’t figure it out yet. How many more students have to be attacked before someone does something?”

Rafael was about to tell her about his research and about Barth’s words when a Slytherin quickly approached them with a scowl so deep Rafael almost pulled his wand on her. He didn’t, however, because he knew  _ this  _ particular Slytherin, and her current mood could only mean one thing.

She’d gotten a letter from her mother.

“Benson,” Amanda called, stumping towards them. “Have you seen my sister Kim?”

Olivia pointed a finger over her shoulder. “She was just in the common room.”

“Can you go get her for me? I need to talk to her,” Amanda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m not your messenger, Rollins,” she frowned, clearly put-off by Amanda’s demand. “She should be out any minute, classes start in twenty.”

“Fine, then give me your password and I’ll go myself.”

Olivia let out a dry chuckle. “As if I’d ever give a Slytherin the password to our common room,” she said, but then she must have seen something on Amanda’s face, because she sighed, relenting. “Okay, I’ll tell her you’re looking for her.”

Amanda’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thanks, I owe you one.” 

“Yeah, you do,” Olivia replied with a calculating gaze, then left.

“Everything okay?,” Rafael asked her once they were left alone. He made his way towards the Great Hall, Amanda following him.

“These attacks,” she groaned. “My mother’s freaking out, she wants me to escort Kim to her classes everyday.” 

“She’s only a 1st year, right? It’s probably for the best, she barely knows her way around the castle as it is.”

Amanda scoffed. “Yeah, you don’t know my sister.” 

“Fair enough,” he chuckled. “You should talk to her Head of House, though.” 

“I’ll sleep better at night if I can keep an eye on her myself. And by that I mean my mother won’t pester the life out of me.” 

Rafael considered it for a moment, nodding. “Do you wish she had been sorted into Slytherin?”

She laughed. “Hell no. We would have blown up the dungeons. Our fights are monumental. I’m happy to just hand her off to Gryffindor then go back to my dorm room in peace.” 

Rafael couldn’t help but laugh too. “Interesting dynamics,” he conceded, then spotted Carmen on the Ravenclaw table. “I’ll see you in class?” 

“If I survive this,” Amanda said dramatically, then turned back towards the doors to wait for her younger sister. “See you.” 

Twenty minutes later, Rafael walked into the Potions classroom and saw Amanda already there, looking frazzled, but relieved. Rafael offered her a smile, and she pulled an annoyed face as she took her seat beside Carmen. 

Rafael was still mildly impressed to see that Rita hadn’t requested to switch partners once she and Carmen started dating. The both of them had been Potions partners ever since 2nd year, but he had assumed Rita would want to sit with Carmen after they became official.

He wouldn’t have minded, he knew Amanda well enough to know they could work together, after all she’d been his partner on their 1st year, but here Rita was, sitting beside Rafael, twisting her wand in hand as they waited for the teacher. 

Secretly, Rafael was glad.

“Today you’ll be working individually,” was the Potions’ teacher way of greeting, and Rafael raised his eyebrows at the irony. “Page 8 of your books. Get to work, quietly.”

Beside him, Rita rolled her eyes, rounding the desk to sit across from him, and empty caldrons popped out of thin air in front of them. 

Rafael opened his book, pulled out his wand, and got started.

* * *

Rafael and Sonny had made plans to practice their Apparition skills after class. McCoy had designed an specific room for students to use whenever they wanted since the magic around Hogwarts didn’t allow apparition inside the castle. But when they were on their way there, they’d quickly realized that half the student body was leaving class and going straight outside.

It was Friday, and the sun had made a wild appearance despite it being late October, and students shed their cloaks and vests on their way to sunbathe on the lawn. 

Sonny and Rafael shared a look, put their books away, and went outside with smiles on their faces. 

Rafael had found a nice spot by an apple tree, and Sonny had set his outer robes on the ground for them to sit. They took off their vests and ties, and layed down to watch as the clouds came and went, keeping conversation light, giggling at the shapes they could see.

At one point, Sonny picked up his wand and spelled the fallen leaves around them in specific formations. First a smiley face, then a star, and then he tried to recreate Ravenclaw’s emblematic eagle, but failed miserably, which Rafael found both hilarious and offensive. To his credit, Sonny couldn’t form a badger either.

As the sun set, the breeze picked up, and Sonny knew they’d have to go back inside soon, much to his dismay.

“Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?,” Sonny asked casually, spelling the leaves to look like a crescent moon. 

Rafael hummed, considering it. “I’m not sure. Rita made sure to tell me she and Carmen are going on a date, and that means I’m not welcome.” 

“We could go together, then,” he said with a smile. He did want this to be a date like Carmen and Rita’s, but he couldn’t quite find the nerve to ask. “We could check out Honeydukes, then jump into the Leaky for a Butterbeer? My treat.”

“Well, how could I ever say no to that?!,” Rafael replied jovially, sounding excited. Sonny couldn’t help but beam at him. The leaves reassembled into three little hearts then, and Sonny quickly ended the spell, blushing profusely. 

He should just say it, he could tell Rafael he wanted this to be a date, if he was interested. 

But Rafael was looking at him in a way that made Sonny’s tongue tie into three different nots and get stuck in his throat. He had his head tilted, his eyes intense and attentive, and Sonny’s hands were sweating. 

“Do you happen to have any Veela blood running in your family?,” Rafael suddenly asked, taking Sonny by surprise. 

“Uh,” he blinked. “Not that I know of. I’m not even sure men can be Veelas.”

“It’s very, very rare, but it happens, specially in older families,” Rafael explained, and Sonny couldn’t help but feel captivated by Rafael’s unending levels of knowledge. “I’ve been reading a lot about blood, heritage, and purity lately, as you know.”

“Yeah, how’s that going?”

Rafael shrugged. “I keep hitting dead ends. It feels hopeless, to be honest. But I found a chapter on Veelas, and how males hardly ever manifest, but they do have Veela looks and appeal.”

_ Appeal? _ Sonny blinked quicker, blushing even harder. Rafael found him appealing? Well, that was something, wasn't it? He could do this. He could ask Rafael on a date.

“I’ll ask my father,” Sonny said instead, and almost punched himself in the face. “Maybe there’s a great-great-great grandfather I don’t know about.” 

Because Rafael was so  _ smart, knowledgeable,  _ he was such great company, always with a witty comment that made Sonny double with laughter. And he was a good friend, too. What if he said no? 

“Are you upset that Carmen and Rita are going on a date and didn’t invite you to go with them to Hogsmeade?,” Sonny asked.

“Not at all. They get insufferable when they’re together,” Rafael said with a dramatic tone. “It’s honestly  _ unbearable _ .”

“Well, I can’t say I’m mad at that, it worked out well for me,” he said with a wink, and Rafael chuckled. “What if we have lunch instead?”

“You’re backing out of Butterbeers?”

“No, I mean, we can still have them,” he shrugged. “But with lunch.” 

“Alright, but we’ll split it.”

“No, my treat. I insist. I invited you, after all,” Sonny smiled, as charmingly as he could, the smile Mike called his ‘pretty puppy’ face. “You can get it next time if you deem me worthy of a second date.”

There it was. That was smooth enough, right? 

Wait. But it didn’t really give Rafael a choice, did it? What if he didn’t want it to be a date? What if he wasn’t interested?

“If you want, I mean,” he stuttered. “We can go as friends, if you don’t-- I mean, you can say no to the date. But we can still get Butterbeers. If you’d like. No pressure, your call.”

Rafael was looking at him with a curious look, one of his eyebrows high up, a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

“A date, you said?,” Rafael teased, then pulled out his wand and spelled the leaves to create a flawless, cursive ‘yes’ in the air. 

Sonny’s face almost ripped in half given the size of his smile. 

* * *

Rafael wasn’t nervous, not at all. He was standing in the courtyard alone, waiting for Sonny, and the reason why he kept twisting his wand in his hands was not anybody’s business, really. 

Most students had already left, excited to get the most out of Hogsmeade before curfew. The courtyard was quiet, save for a few 2nd years. He spotted Sonny’s younger sister, Bella, amongst the group, and smiled as he watched her win a round of Gobstones against her friends. 

She looked a lot like Sonny in her enthusiasm, and it was endearing to watch.

“Hey,” Rafael heard, then immediately straightened up his posture, turning to look at Sonny.

He almost choked on air at the sight of him.

Students were allowed to wear whatever they pleased on their trip to Hogsmeade, and often chose to forgo their school uniforms. Rafael himself was wearing a pair a black slacks and a dark blue jumper, a grey scarf around his neck to provide him some protection against the wind. 

But Sonny had apparently chosen not to care about the weather, and was wearing only a tight pair of blue jeans and a grey henley. The buttons on the colar were open, and the fabric clung firmly to his shoulders and biceps. 

Thanks to Sonny’s dedication to Quidditch, he was well toned, and his choice of clothes highlighted that all to well. Rafael’s sanity was seriously at stake. 

“Hi,” Rafael greeted, feeling a little out of the loop. “You should have brought a coat, it’s bound to get colder.”

Sonny smiled softly, and Rafael could see the dimple on his cheek deepen. “I’m all set,” he said with a pat to his pocket. “Shrinked my jacket and scarf. Plus, a heating spell. Don’t you love magic?”

Rafael chuckled. “Absolutely.”

“Sonny!,” Bella came zooming into him. “Will you bring me something from Honeydukes, please? Anything? A chocolate frog?”

“Alright, alright,” he laughed lightly, patting her back. “I’ll bring some chocolate.”

Bella hugged him around the waist, squealing, then bolted back to her friends. Sonny threw her a fond look, then turned back to Rafael.

“You ready?,” he asked with that charming smile of his, and Rafael nodded.

* * *

Rafael wasn’t surprised to find that Honeydukes was crowded. It was quite a popular stop for both Hogwarts students and staff, and Rafael saw a handful of teachers around the shop, not to mention Carmen and Rita - Carmen winked at Rafael when she saw him - and, surprisingly, Amanda with Nick and Olivia.

“What’s your favorite?,” Sonny asked as they went around the shop.

“Ugh, almost impossible to choose,” he considered. “I’m quite partial to butterscotch and anything fudge-like.”

“They seem to have something new called fudge cauldron, we could get some for after dinner?,” Sonny suggested with glee, and Rafael found himself smiling back and nodding.

Between the two of them, they left Honeydukes with a bag full of candy for dessert - and for Bella - and headed into the Leaky Cauldron, which, thankfully, was much less crowded. 

Sonny guided Rafael towards one of the booths in the corner, and Rafael was surprised to see a ‘reserved’ sign on the table. He looked at Sonny inquisitively as they sat side by side.

“You made reservations?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to risk not having a spot,” Sonny admitted with a little shrug. “We never know just how crowded it could get.”

Rafael felt something stir deep within his chest, and looked down at his lap so Sonny wouldn’t see it written all over his face. It was unbelievably charming that he wanted to go on a date with Rafael so bad he called ahead to make sure it wouldn’t go south due to the place being highly sought after by the Hogwarts population.

It was very thoughtful of him, and Rafael was overwhelmed.

When the waitress came, they ordered a Butterbeer each, and there was a slightly awkward moment where they shared a look, both seemingly uncertain and nervous, unsure of how to proceed.

Rafael wasn’t sure about Sonny, but this was the first date he had ever been in, and he couldn’t quite figure out what the etiquette required of him. So he did what he knew best, and started talking.

“The other day Headmistress Barth called me into her office,” he started, and Sonny immediately locked his attention on him, intrigued. “She knew I’d been researching about the students in the infirmary, but told me I shouldn’t waste my time on that. She said I should be worried about classes, and my future, and that the Aurors are handling it.” 

Sonny nodded, considering it for a moment. “Well, I can’t say I disagree with her. I mean, you’re the most brilliant student in school and I’m sure if anyone’s gonna crack this, it’s you, but there are professionals involved. Mike said that, according to his father, this case is top priority.”

“But don’t you think it’s weird? That we’re supposed to go on normally while Gryffindors are being attacked?”

“It does feel weird, and unfair, but I know you’re still looking into it despite Barth’s warnings, aren’t you?”

Rafael looked at him from under his lashes, smirking slightly. “I couldn’t just drop it. It’s fascinating stuff, either way. Barth told me I should go into curse-breaking, and after all this studying, I kind of see the appeal.”

Sonny’s eyebrows went up. “Curse-breaking? Rafael, that’s  _ highly  _ refined magic. If Barth said that to you… Wow. You truly are a genius, aren’t you?”

If Rafael were one to blush, he certain would have then. Sonny looked amazed, his eyes wide and shiny, his smile enchanted and smitten. He felt butterflies take flight in his stomach under Sonny’s appreciative gaze.

Their Butterbeers were served shortly after, and the first sweet sip of his drink felt like a pleasant hug. When he looked up at Sonny, he thought he saw the other boy physically melt into his chair, sagging back into his seat.

“You’ve got a little,” he said softly, motioning to the tip of Rafael’s nose. 

Rafael reached for a napkin and ran it over his nose, trying not to die of embarrassment. Sonny, for his part, took a large sip of Butterbeer and purposely got froth all around his mouth. He set the cup back down and gave Rafael a big, frothy smile. Rafael laughed for five minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most fluffy chapter in this story, but next one does contain their first kiss, so we'll see!!
> 
> My classes have started and I got into the habit of reading your comments on the train on my way to uni, and it never fails to make me smile. So thank you so much for your lovely words! MWAH
> 
> See you on Wednesday with: Sonny's problems with apparition get worse before they get better, barisi's first kiss, and another attack - the worst one yet.


	5. The Apparition Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonny's Apparition problem is solved, there's a first kiss, and a new attack - the worst one yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT: Harry Potter and Sonny Carisi were technically born in the same year, so if Sonny attended Hogwarts, they would have been in the same classes -- and Sonny would have fought in the Battle of Hogwarts.
> 
> There's a random tidbit for you. Enjoy!

Mid-November brought a frigid breeze that didn’t seem to let up for two whole weeks. That meant that Quidditch season was going to be a pain in the ass, quite literally, considering they were freezing themselves to death up in the sky. 

In the end, Sonny and Mike had amicably agreed to choose Silvia for Hufflepuff’s Keeper. Mike was already struggling with keeping his classes and Prefect duties on schedule as it was, finding time for Quidditch practice would have turned his 6th year into an impossible nightmare.

Sonny had been upset, and hugged Mike for way longer than necessary once the decision had been made, but they both knew it was for the best. They were growing up, adult responsibilities right around the corner, decisions and sacrifices had to be made. At least Mike’s father had been particularly satisfied with that turn of events, and had sent him a long letter telling him how pleased he was with Mike’s choice. 

Thankfully, Silvia really was a force to be reckoned with. Sonny had yet to see a quaffle get past her, and if she kept up the amazing work, he could definitely see Captain potential in her for when he left after 7th year. He could also see professional Quidditch playing in her future, and he was proud.

And as far as classes went, the workload was extensive, but Sonny was able to keep up with it easily enough. Well, as long as he didn’t count Apparition classes.

After their first date, taking that class with Rafael had only become harder. Previously, when he tried to concentrate on his destination, the thing that niggled at the back of his mind was wanting to get closer to Rafael somehow. That made him Apparate smack into him more than a handful of times, but now it was even worse.

Because they  _ were  _ closer now, so the next step in Sonny’s mind was kissing him. And that had proven to be a  _ tremendous  _ disaster. 

“Carisi,  _ enough, _ ” Professor McCoy barked at him, fuming, while both him and Rafael got up from the floor. “You’re forbidden from trying to apparate again until you have proven you’re not going to kill another student. For next class, I want you to bring me 20 inches on the magical theory of Apparition, and the importance of  _ focusing _ .”

Sonny wasn’t surprised to hear that, after all his display of magical control in class had been abysmal, but it was frustrating regardless. Because he  _ was  _ better than this, he  _ was  _ a good student, he just needed to stop thinking about the fact that Rafael was  _ right there _ . 

“Professor,” Rafael spoke, to his surprise. “I’m fine. It’s my fault, really, I don’t think I should be standing inside the circle when Sonny apparates.” 

McCoy considered him for a second, looking between Sonny and the Apparition circle for a moment. It was a flimsy excuse, the three of them knew that, none of the other students were having problems with apparating inside the circle despite their partners being in it or not.

“Step out of the circle, Mr. Barba,” Professor McCoy said, then waved a hand at Sonny. “Give it a try now, Mr. Carisi.”

Sonny took a shaky breath, lifted his wand, looked intensely towards his destination, and apparated. He opened his eyes to see that he’d popped back perfectly inside the circle, and Rafael was beaming at him.

“I see,” their teacher scoffed, shaking his head. Then looked around the classroom and called out, “Mr. Dodds! You’re working with Mr. Barba from now on.”

Sonny stumbled back, shocked. “Professor, no, I--”

“It seems your interests lie  _ elsewhere _ when it comes to Mr. Barba,” he told Sonny with a knowing look. “But in my class, I need you to focus on your magic, Mr. Carisi. So you’ll be working with Miss Carmen.”

Sonny watched, dejected, as Rafael made his way to the other side of the classroom to join Mike, and Carmen came over to stand with him. She gave him a sympathetic look, but said nothing. 

“Now get to work,” McCoy barked again, and class resumed. 

* * *

Rafael looked up when he heard the screeches, owls flying into the Great Hall and dropping letters and parcels for students then flying out again. He sat in the Ravenclaw table expectantly, trying to catch sight of his own owl with any news from home. 

People said no news sometimes was good news, but Rafael didn’t like the way his mind wondered when his mother took too long to write him back. 

A package flew towards Carmen, and she seemed surprised, but he knew it was from Rita. She had asked him to help her choose which new scarf he thought Carmen would like best. It was an early Christmas present, Rita had said, but Christmas was still well over a month away, and Rafael didn’t believe her for one second. 

He perked up when he saw his owl carrying a package in its claws, which was dropped in front of him lightly. Rafael was relieved to noticed, however, that there was also a letter. 

Rafael ripped it open as soon as he recognized his mother’s handwriting, ignoring the larger parcel for the time being. He scanned the letter with his heart in his throat, then finally relaxed when he found the actual good news.

“My mother has finally convinced my grandmother to visit St. Mungo’s,” Rafael told Carmen. “They’ve given her potions to strengthen her bones, and the shaking has stopped, too.”

“Raf,” Carmen gasped, smiling brilliantly. “That’s really great. I knew your mother would find a way.”

Rafael looked up at her with an easy smile, and was happy to see that the dark green scarf was already around her neck, and she was running her fingers through the fabric. 

“I see Rita is trying to dress you in Slytherin colors,” he teased. “It looks beautiful.”

Carmen’s smile widened. “I love it. And don’t pretend you didn’t help her choose this, I know you both.”

He waved a nonchalant hand at her. “Rita has good taste, I only told her to stop overthinking and get on with it.”

She laughed, bringing the scarf up to her face. “What have you got there?,” Carmen asking, looking curiously to the bigger package he got. “Is it from your mother?”

Rafael hummed, looking over the brown paper for a signature, but couldn’t find anything. So he undid the ribbon and ripped the wrapping, finding a little card on top of a box of butterscotch. ‘ _ You said you ran out of them. Sonny xx’ _

“Oh, I know that look,” Carmen giggled. “It’s from Carisi, isn’t it? You know he won’t stop talking about you in Apparition class, right?” 

Instead of replying, Rafael showed Carmen the card, and she started squealing so loudly he almost hexed her quiet. A few other Ravenclaws looked up from their books towards them, confused by the sudden noise. 

“He’s so sweet,” Carmen said once she pulled herself together. “He’s absolutely smitten with you, it’s adorable. You should give him a chance, Rafael.”

He frowned. “I have. We went on a date, remember?”

“Yeah, two weeks ago,” she rolled her eyes. “And then McCoy split you two in class, so now you hardly ever have time with him. He’s a Hufflepuff, Raf, at this point he’s probably ripping his hair out, certain you’re not  _ that  _ interested in him.”

Rafael looked between Carmen, the note and the box of sweets. She was right, ever since the date, he’d barely talked to Sonny alone. They were both busy, and the few interactions they shared were short, between classes, or before Sonny had to go out for practice and Rafael had to start his Prefect rounds.

He looked over at the Hufflepuff table, but Sonny wasn’t there. Mike was, though, so Rafael marched over to him, resolute.

“Excuse me, Dodds,” he greeted. “Have you seen Sonny?”

“He’s out in the Quidditch pitch,” Mike said, friendly as always. “We’ve got a big game against Slytherin this weekend, you know, the team’s going hard at practice.” 

“Right,” Rafael nodded. He didn’t care much for Quidditch, but he knew Sonny did, a lot. “Thank you. See you.”

Mike waved goodbye at him, smiling with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. 

Rafael’s timing seemed perfect, because when he approach the Quidditch pitch, the team was leaving, and Sonny was left behind, alone, to tidy up. He was spelling brooms and quaffles back into place and repairing a hole that had been pierced into the Gryffindor stands. 

“Rafael,” Sonny greeted, clearly surprised. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you on the pitch before.”

Rafael shrugged, looking around. From the ground, the pitch looked somewhat intimidating. “I’ve watched a couple of Ravenclaw’s games.”

“Of course,” he gave Rafael a lopsided grin. “Ravenclaw’s not practicing today, though. Because of the game this weekend, Slytherin has the pitch for the rest of the day.”

“It’s fine,” Rafael waved a hand. “I wanted to talk to you, actually.”

“Oh, okay,” Sonny shifted awkwardly. “Do you mind if I keep cleaning this up, though? I have to get it done before Slytherin arrives or it’ll cost me House points.”

“No, no, go right ahead,” he smiled tentatively, and took a moment to appreciate Sonny’s precise movements as he went. His Quidditch gear was tighter than his school robes, and Rafael definitely appreciated the brown leather boots that went right up to his knees.

“So what do you want to talk about?,” Sonny encouraged, brooms flying over his head and into the broom shed. 

“You know how you were having trouble in Apparition until McCoy switched us?,” Rafael asked, and Sonny hummed in acknowledgment. “What was that about?”

Sonny cleared his throat, and when he turned to Rafael, his cheeks were bright red. “I was having trouble focusing on the circle. I was… I guess we could say I was focusing on  _ you _ , instead.” 

Rafael had guessed that to be the case, but hearing Sonny say it made the butterflies go crazy in his stomach, and he felt like his heart was going to take flight. 

Sonny stepped closer to him, and reached for Rafael’s hand. “I’m sorry I kept bumping into you like that, but no matter how hard I tried, the thing that kept burning in the back of my mind was that I wanted to be closer to you.”

“Even after our date?,” he asked, his voice just above a whisper. 

“Specially after our date,” Sonny smiled. “Because knowing that you might want to be closer to me too made it harder.”

Rafael’s breath hitched. “I did want. The date was great, and thank you for the butterscotch, I really appreciate all of that, Sonny. I’m sorry I don’t know how to show you that I--,” he swallowed hard. “That I like you, too.”

He heard Sonny’s breath stutter, and then he was stepping closer, and closer, so close, until there was barely any space between them. Rafael looked up, right into Sonny’s beautiful blue eyes, and Sonny started to lean in, slowly, as if he was afraid he might scare Rafael off.

But Rafael wasn’t scared. A little nervous, yes, he was about to have his very first kiss after all, but he trusted Sonny. So instead of waiting for Sonny to finally close the gap between them, Rafael did it himself, and kissed him. 

It was exhilarating. 

Sonny’s lips were incredibly soft, and the kiss was sweet, tender. A chaste touch of lips, a little dry, to be honest, innocent and unsure. He felt Sonny’s arms around his waist, holding him, and his hands fell on Sonny’s chest, and he was so warm, Rafael sighed, melting into him.

Both pulled back for a moment, but stayed in each other’s space for a breath, then dove back in again. This time, it was exploratory. Sonny tilted his head, and their mouths slotted better into place. Rafael’s tongue tentatively touched Sonny’s bottom lip, and the other boy’s lips parted invitingly. 

The once chaste and dry kiss turned wet and loud, and Rafael was sure he was never going to find anything better than this, their tongues sliding together shyly, a deep hum bubbling up from Sonny’s chest, their lips parting and meeting again, finding different angles, other positions, other sensations.

Rafael lost track of time, and he didn’t mind it at all. He was in Sonny’s arms, kissing him, and he didn’t care if they stood there for minutes, hours, or days, as long as they kept doing this. 

Eventually, though, he was sure they’d both faint if they didn’t come up for air, and regrettably pulled away. Sonny looked mesmerized, his eyelids heavy and lips parted.

“Wow,” Sonny breathed. “That was… Wow.”

Rafael smiled up at him. “I agree.”

* * *

A week later, Sonny felt like he was walking on clouds. Between Quidditch practice, classes, and Rafael’s Prefect duties, the two of them had been doing their damned best to find free time for each other. Sonny was pretty sure he could spend the rest of his life kissing Rafael and he’d never get tired. 

He had never expected 6th year to treat him so well, but now here he was. Captain of the Quidditch team, doing well in all of his classes - yes, even Apparition now -, and about to ask Rafael to officially be his boyfriend.

After their first kiss in the Quidditch pitch, they had a silent agreement that they were together now. The gossip had spread fast, and by dinner everybody already knew that Sonny and Rafael were an item. 

Since then, they’d walk around the hallways between classes holding hands, they’d sneak in a few kisses here and there, and they were already well acquainted with the all the dark corners and nooks around the castle.

But regardless of all the great fun they were having, Sonny wanted to make their relationship official with a nice gesture. 

He had it all figured out.

During their Apparition class the day before, he had asked Carmen for her help. He asked her to keep an eye on Rafael after his last class, and to bring him out to the lake precisely at 7pm. 

With some persuasion, Sonny had managed to convince the elves down in the kitchen to fill a picnic basket for him. And for dessert, there was a big assortment from Honeydukes to choose from. After their dinner, he was going to ask Rafael to be his boyfriend, officially.

It was December, and the air was cold, but Sonny had spent about half an hour spelling a patch under a tree to heat up properly for them. The lake looked quiet and calm, it was perfectly warm under the tree, and Sonny’s picnic basket was full of treats. So, smiling widely, Sonny sat down to wait for Rafael.

An hour later, and there was no sign of the Ravenclaw. Sonny was frowning, worried. Had Carmen not understood his instructions? No, they’d gone over it three times, and she was smart, she definitely got it. 

Had Rafael not wanted to come? Was it too cold out? The wind had definitely picked up, but it was still perfectly warm in the little corner Sonny had created for them. 

Sonny sighed, leaning back against the tree bark. He could wait a little longer. 

Then, a few minutes later, he heard hurried steps and stood up, excited. Rafael was coming, finally. Maybe Carmen had lost track of time, but that was okay, the food was still good to go and --

But it wasn’t Carmen who showed up, and there was no sign of Rafael either. It was Mike, and he looked deeply troubled. 

“Sonny. Listen,” Mike started, and he sounded pained. “Another student’s down. There’s been another attack.”

Sonny frowned, his heart clenching. “What? Another Gryffindor?”

Mike shook his head, sparing Sonny a sad glance. “It got to Ravenclaw tower.”

Sonny stumbled back, almost as if he’d been slapped across the face. His stomach dropped, and he accidentally stepped on the sandwiches he had laid out on the picnic towel. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head violently. “Not him. No. Mike, is it-?”

“I’m so sorry, Sonny,” Mike said, and his expression twisted into one of extreme regret.

“No, no,  _ no _ , not him,” Sonny was saying as he kept stumbling back, until he turned on his feet and picked up his step towards the castle. 

Soon enough, he was running through the corridors. He bumped into students, ignored exasperated teachers, and almost ran straight into the Headmistress, but he didn’t stop. No matter how many points Hufflepuff lost, how many months of detention he’d have to serve, he didn’t stop, only gaining more and more traction as he went.

He burst into the infirmary, throwing the entire weight of his body against the doors. It hit the wall with such a loud bang that Madam Warner jumped from her desk and pulled her wand on Sonny, alarmed.

“Mr. Carisi,  _ what  _ do you think you’re doing?,” she yelled in shock.

Sonny couldn’t answer. His tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of his mouth even as his breath escaped him in heavy huffs. Because there he was, lying motionless on the bed, still in his uniform, silver and blue tie around his neck, tucked primly inside his vest.

“No,” Sonny breathed one last time, brokenly, and slumped into the stool by the foot of the bed. “Rafael.” 

He wanted to shake him, to scream, to call for him until he opened his eyes, but it felt like the fight had left Sonny and there was nothing left to do but stare. 

“I’ll give you a minute,” Madam Warner said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. “But you can’t stay here, Sonny.”

Sonny had nothing to say. He kept his eyes on Rafael, and left himself cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if you know me, you know I cried while writing this LMAO so sorry about that little cliffhanger, please don't hate me, I promise next chapter will be good. The rest of the group comes to the rescue! 
> 
> Also, I finished editing this story today, so it's time to start outlining the sequel. I want to know everything: Is there anything you'd like to see Raf and Sonny do? Any other characters you'd like to be a couple? Any professor you'd like to see more of? Anything from the HP world you'd like to see translated here? Let me know! I'm all ears!
> 
> MWAH see you next Monday!! <3


	6. The Half-Blood Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonny's really going through it, and the squad gets together to help Rafael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was probably my favorite chapter to write. The squad getting together in the library was one of the very first scenes I worked on, so I'm happy to finally share!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Madam Warner had given him half an hour, which was barely enough time for Sonny to stop his tears and recompose himself before he had to make his way back to the Hufflepuff common room. He felt like he was in a daze, and no matter how many times Mike called out his name, Sonny couldn’t hear him.

He made his way up to their door room and crawled into bed. His roommates came and went, getting ready for bed, chatting, even trying to get some sort of response from him, to no avail. 

Mike had brought him something to eat, but it was forgotten on top of Sonny’s trunk. He had made no move to get to it, and eventually Mike stopped insisting and went to bed himself. 

Now it was morning, everybody was up and getting ready for class, but the room was quiet. Sonny saw the furtive glances in his direction, the worried frowns, but paid them no mind. He kept staring up at the ceiling, still in the same clothes he was wearing last night, lying on top of the sheets. 

Sonny couldn’t remember if he had fallen asleep or even closed his eyes at any point throughout the night, he could only remember Rafael, unconscious, his magic frozen inside of him. 

At some point - he had no idea what time it was - the door opened, and in came Professor Bayard Ellis, Hufflepuff’s Head of House. Normally Sonny would have sat up, straighten himself out of respect, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. So he only stared as the professor approached his bed.

“You’ve missed this morning’s classes, Mr. Carisi,” he started sternly, looking at him with a calculating gaze. “I assume this has something to do with what happened to Mr. Barba?”

Sonny blinked at him. His mouth felt as dry as sandpaper, and he wasn’t sure if his throat was going to work properly if he tried to speak, so Sonny nodded instead. 

Professor Ellis nodded back, and took a sit on the bed beside Sonny’s. Mike’s bed. “Professor McCoy and I have spoken to Headmistress Barth and agreed not to give you detention for missing class.”

“Professor McCoy?,” he croaked, frowning. He had no idea why Ravenclaw’s Head of House had been involved in deciding his punishment.

“Yes, he presented a compelling argument about what happens to your focus where Mr. Barba is concerned,” Professor Ellis said with a curious look. “So we agreed on giving you a break today. But this dispensation is only for _ today _, Sonny. You’re expected in class tomorrow.”

Sonny swallowed hard. “Yes, sir, I understand. Thank you.”

“Sonny,” he started with a sigh. “It’s my understanding that you and Mr. Barba are dating.”

He paused for confirmation, Sonny guessed, so he nodded. 

“And I can only imagine how helpless you must feel,” Professor Ellis continued softly. “But Mr. Barba is not dead, Sonny. So why are you mourning?”

“It’s been over two months,” Sonny said, his voice just above a whisper. “Two months, and Gryffindor’s students are still unconscious. Aurors came and went, specialists were called, and nothing. And now Rafael… It’s hard to have hope, sir.”

Professor Ellis hummed, nodding. “I see. What else could you possibly do for Rafael, then, if not hope for his recovery?”

Sonny didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything. He blinked up at the ceiling, now fully aware that he’d have to stand up and do something if he ever expected to see Rafael again. 

“Sonny, take a shower, eat something, then go visit Rafael,” Professor Ellis suggested. “Let him know you’re there, waiting for him to come back.”

“I will,” he breathed. “Thank you, Professor.”

“I expect to see you in the Great Hall for dinner, Mr. Carisi,” he said, standing up. “But for now I’ll ask one of the elves to send something.” 

“I appreciate that, sir,” Sonny said, then finally sat up.

Professor Ellis reached for Sonny’s shoulder with a sympathetic smile. “He’ll be fine, Sonny. I promise you that.”

With that, he left, the heavy door shutting softly behind him. 

Sonny went into the showers and turned it up until it steamed, letting the hot water poor down until his skin was pink. 

When he walked back into the room, there was a tray of eggs, sausages, toast, and pumpkin juice waiting for him. Sonny attacked it with no preamble, and only raised his head again when the plates were empty. With a blink, the tray disappear with a high-pitched _ pop _, and Sonny stood.

Professor Ellis was right. He had to be there for Rafael, and that meant showing up. So he made his way to the infirmary, freshly shaved, showered, and with a full stomach. At least, if Rafael were to wake up, Sonny wouldn’t be a stinky mess.

Much to Sonny’s surprise, however, Rafael wasn’t alone when he walked into the infirmary.

Carmen was sitting by his side, holding his hand, Rita with an arm around Carmen’s shoulders. Olivia was on his other side, taking his other hand, Nick right behind her with a deep look of concern. Amanda and Mike were standing by the foot of the bed, talking in whispers as they glanced at Rafael. 

It was quite a big group, and Sonny was surprised Madam Warner hadn’t materialized out of nowhere to shoo everybody out. 

“Sonny,” Mike said, surprised, being the first to spot him. The whole group turned to look at him. “I should have known you’d show up here eventually. Did you sleep at all?”

Sonny shrugged, and Nick waved him over, patting him on the shoulder. “I didn’t see you in Potions class, man.”

“Or Muggle Studies,” Carmen added in a soft voice. 

“The Headmistress gave me a dispensation for today,” he said, and his voice sounded hoarse as he spoke. “But I’ll be back in class tomorrow.” 

“Here,” Olivia said, standing up. “You can sit here.”

Sonny nodded his thanks, taking Olivia’s place and immediately reaching for Rafael’s hand. His fingers were colder than normal, colder than in all the days they’d walked around school holding hands. Sonny felt tears stinging his eyes again, and felt a hand curl over his shoulder, but he didn’t look to see who it was.

The group stayed there in silence for a while, and the atmosphere was heavy and tense, but eventually, much like Sonny expected, Madam Warner came out of her office and ordered everybody to go to class. Sonny wanted to stay since he had special dispensation, but she looked at him long and hard, a warning, so he walked out with the rest of the group. 

“I spoke with my father, Sonny,” Mike started once they were in the hall. “He said the Aurors are working hard on it, and the healing wing in St. Mungo’s is working on a potential antidote. And so are the Curse-Breakers. They’ll find a solution, I’m sure they will.” 

“What if they don’t, Mike?,” Sonny asked in a rough voice. “What if they never come back?”

“You can’t say that,” Carmen protested, and he saw her bottom lip tremble. “You can’t think like that. Magic is surprising, yes, but it isn’t _ random _ . They’ll have to find _ something _ at some point.”

“When was the last time you saw Barba before he was attacked?,” Nick asked Carmen, looking quite like an Auror himself, all tense shoulders and straight back. 

Carmen swallowed hard, and looked over at Sonny for a moment. “Sonny had asked me to keep Rafael busy until 7pm, so after class I asked him to return some books for me in the library. I was in the common room, waiting for him with even more books so that when he came back, I’d ask him to go there with me again to return those, too.”

“So he went to the library alone? Did he come back?,” Mike asked, brow furrowed. 

“No. He took so long I went to look for him,” she sniffed. “They had already taken him to the infirmary when I got there.” 

“Something happened in the library, then,” Amanda said. 

“What time was this? Around 6pm?,” Olivia asked, and Carmen nodded. “There’s no way, the library would have been _ packed _ then.”

“We should ask around in our Houses, try to figure out who might have seen something,” Mike suggested.

“That’s a lot of people,” Rita frowned. 

“Well, there were a lot of people in the library,” Nick shrugged. 

“What do you think, Sonny?,” Olivia asked him tentatively. 

Sonny sighed, then nodded, picking his head up. “Rafael was trying to figure out what was going on with these attacks, he had been researching for months. We owe it to him to figure this out.” 

Everyone nodded, looking stern. Sonny couldn’t help but feel as if it looked like they were about to face a huge battle of some sort. 

“We’ll ask around our Houses tonight, then tomorrow after class we’ll meet in the library to share what we found,” Olivia said. “Does that sound good?”

“I’ll call in some favors,” Rita nodded. “Get some more people to ask around for us.”

“We have to go to class,” Carmen said, then reached for Sonny’s arm. “Are you going to be okay?”

He felt his throat tighten again. “Yeah,” he croaked. “I’ll be fine. See you guys at dinner.

Sonny watched as the group walked down the hallway then split on their way to their classes. 

He considered going back to the infirmary, but he knew that’d only result in Madam Warner yelling at him, and Sonny didn’t want to be banned for good, so he took a deep breath, walked to the Quidditch pitch, summoned a broom, and flew.

* * *

The next day, when everyone regrouped in the library, they had all found the same thing: everyone who’d been in the library two nights before had seen Rafael put a couple books back in place, then he collapsed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the Professors who’d helped him inspected every single book he had been carrying, but found nothing.

“It’s a dead end, then,” Nick said frustratingly. 

“Not quite,” Carmen hurried to add. “Yesterday Sonny said something that got me thinking. Rafael really had been knees-deep into researching these attacks, so naturally, I knew he would have taken notes.”

With a triumphant smile, she set a notebook on the middle of the table. 

“You found the notes?,” Olivia gasped.

“Well, I asked one of his roommates to search through his trunk,” she shrugged. 

“You’re a genius,” Rita said, kissing her cheek.

Carmen blushed a little, then waved her off. “I started reading it last night, and there’s _ a lot _, Rafael’s quite thorough, but he’d most recently been looking into curses specifically for Half-Bloods.”

Sonny nodded, remembering the day he’d found Rafael in library doing just that. “Yeah, he mentioned he thought this was motivated by blood-purity.”

Olivia scoffed. “Please, as if anyone’s _really _a pureblood.”

“Don’t say that in front of Slytherins,” Nick joked, and got a glare from both Rita and Amanda.

“Was there anything else in his notes?,” Sonny pressed.

“Yes, actually,” Carmen said, picking up the notebook and flipping through it. “His last few entries were all regarding cursed _ objects _. He wrote about how items made out of paper, plastic or wood wouldn’t be good recipients because they’re easily destroyed and deteriorate with time,” Carmen read directly from Rafael’s notes.

“The current environmental crises would disagree,” Mike chimed in, and Sonny elbowed him in the ribs to shush him.

Carmen threw Mike a displeased look, then went back to reading. “While items made out of steel, gold or which contain precious gems only become more valuable, therefore more powerful, with time.”

“How hard is it to sneak a dark object into Hogwarts?,” Nick asked, frowning.

“Not very, considering most objects hold magic one way or another,” Carmen shrugged. “The older the item, the more magical residue.”

“You mean _ any _object?,” Olivia asked.

Carmen looked at her for a moment, and for a second Sonny thought she was going to snap. “As we see here in Rafael’s notes, no, not _ any object _. Some of them are more likely to hold more, and for longer. Like metals, gems, jewelry.”

“Okay, so like, family heirlooms?,” Sonny said, tilting his head. He particularly remembered a necklace his mother had given Bella for her first year.

His mother had explained that the necklace had been in the family for several generations and was considered to bring immense amounts of good luck. Sonny now wondered if there was any actual spell placed on the necklace for that.

“Moving from relative to relative for generations?,” Sonny continued. “Sounds like a lot of magical residue to me.”

“Heirlooms are known to hold charms, curses, and even prophecies, you know,” Amanda added. “And they’re generally made for long-lasting purposes, right?” 

“That all sounds very simple, but in houses like Slytherin, basically every student walks around with a family heirloom,” Rita said, throwing Amanda a side-glance. Rita then pulled a chain from inside her shirt, revealing a long silver necklace with a moon pendant.

“How common is that in Gryffindor?,” Mike asked Nick.

Nick shrugged. “Not very, I don’t think. Or at least we don’t _ brag _about it.”

“Nick,” Olivia suddenly shook him, looking like she’d had the insight of the millenium. “Who _ did _come to Hogwarts with a new gold bracelet, bragging about his family inheritance?”

Nick’s eyes narrowed to slits and his nostrils flared. It was the look he always got when he was about to punch someone. Sonny had seen it many times after Quidditch games when Gryffindor lost.

“Of course,” he suddenly huffed annoyingly.

“A bracelet,” Mike growled. “All of these theories with poison and dark wizards, but you’re saying all of this happened because of a _ bracelet _?”

“Sometimes the answer is much simpler than we realize,” Sonny said with a sad smile, sighing despite all eyes turning to him.

He could sympathize with Mike’s outrage. After all, it was not lost on him how unfair it was that students had been hurt because someone else came to school with a dangerous piece of jewelry. It wasn’t fair that all of Rafael’s fear, all his worries, and his current unconscious status in the infirmary might be the work of nothing but an errant curse in an old bracelet. 

“So what do we do? How do we know for sure?,” Amanda asked, looking like she was ready for a fight, too.

Carmen sagged. “Rafael’s the best at identifying spells, really. But I can try if you can bring me the bracelet.”

“Oh, I’ll bring it to you,” Nick guaranteed, standing up. “I’ll bring it even if I have to kill him.”

“Be careful, though,” Carmen added quickly. “You can’t touch it. Cast a protective shield over it, that’d be even better. We don’t need anyone else to end up in the hospital.”

“Okay. And then what?,” Olivia said, standing up as well. “What do we do to break the curse, or whatever it is?”

“It has to be taken away from Hogwarts, preferably by a pureblood, and destroyed,” Sonny said, even though everybody was looking at Carmen. Everybody turned to him with their eyebrows raised when he spoke instead. “What? This _ is _ a school, you know. We’re _ all _here to learn. Ravenclaws aren’t the only ones who read books.” 

“I knew you weren’t just a pretty face, Carisi,” Rita teased with a smirk, and Sonny couldn’t help but blush.

“Sonny’s right, though, and even then, whatever remains must be kept locked away, somewhere safe,” Carmen explained, looking slightly nervous. “These curses really do have a frighteningly good resistance.” 

“I should talk to my father, then,” Mike said. “He’ll know what to do about this.”

“You want to involve the Aurors?,” Amanda scowled.

“Amanda, this _ is _a case for the Aurors,” Olivia challenged. “We’re only 6th year students.”

“But we’ve just figured all of this out, haven’t we?”

“No, Barba did,” Nick said, scowling. “After months of researching on his own. Dodds is right, we need to give this to the Aurors.”

Seemingly outvoted, Amanda gave in, and together they constructed a letter to send to Mike’s father. Sonny couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter you'll find out who was behind the curse and why they did it. Let me just say that Rafael was right all along.
> 
> ANYWAY! Please don't forget to leave a little kudo on your way out, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially now that I'm outlining the sequel. MWAH see you Wednesday with our last chapter (and then there's an epilogue)!!!


	7. The Stolen Bracelet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finds out who was behind the attacks, and the curse finally breaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's our conclusion! I wanna thank everyone who helped me build this story, everyone who replied to my tweets when I didn't know where to place characters, and everyone who has commented and showed interest in this story. I know it's not your average barisi, but I'm really happy that you've enjoyed the ride with me.
> 
> Enjoy!

Mike’s father was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and they had gotten a very long reply from him explaining that they should not, in any way, get involved in this. Mike had been furious at first, but by the time the group had reached the end of the letter, he’d managed to pull himself together.

Dodds Sr. promised to look into the family of the boy who had brought the gold bracelet into Hogwarts and, the next day, he’d visit the school to look at the object himself. That was a lot more than what they had planned originally - which involved Nick’s fists - and they all agreed to wait for what Mike’s father would find before doing anything else.

That had all seemed fair and great, until Sonny walked into the Great Hall the next morning to see the boy standing by the Gryffindor table. Sonny marched towards him, ignoring Mike’s calls and Nick and Olivia quickly approaching him, both alarmed. 

“Stone!,” Sonny yelled, grabbing the boy by his robes. “What the hell did you do to Rafael?”

He frowned, trying to shake Sonny’s grip off. “What do you mean?”

“I know it was you,” he spat. “And that goddamned bracelet. Where is it?”

Stone swallowed hard, shaking his head. “I didn’t--”

“Sonny, let him go or you’ll get in trouble,” Mike said urgently, a hand on Sonny’s shoulder. “You’ll get detention, Sonny, then you won’t be able to help us. Let him go.” 

Olivia and Nick grabbed each side of the other Gryffindor, pushing him into a corner and away from Sonny. 

“What was that?,” Rita asked through gritted-teeth as Mike guided Sonny out of the Great Hall. “I thought we had agreed not to say anything to him. He might as well just go and get rid of the bracelet now.”

“I’m sorry, okay?,” Sonny said frustratingly. “I haven’t slept in two days, I wasn’t thinking right. I just saw him and reacted.”

“Nick and Olivia will keep an eye on him,” Mike offered, placatingly. “My father will be here around lunch time to take the bracelet, but you remember what Professor Ellis said, Sonny, breakfast then class.”

“Alright, yeah,” he sighed, then looked up at Rita. “I’m sorry.”

Rita waved him off. “Have some strong tea and look alive, Carisi. We have to finish what we started, but we have to do it right.”

Sonny nodded. “I know.”

“Let’s go,” Mike patted Sonny in the back and pushed him straight towards the Hufflepuff table.

Sonny sat down with a huff and refused to look up until he was done eating. He couldn’t risk seeing Stone again or he might start backhanding things off the table - instead of Stone’s face. 

He had seen Peter Stone before, of course. They were in the same year, but the other boy kept to himself most of the time. He didn’t really get involved in anything - Quidditch, classes, after-class get togethers, he was never around, he never got into trouble, and he always seemed to be alone. 

Sonny made a mental note to ask Olivia and Nick about him. They did mention the boy had been bragging about the bracelet, and he needed to know for sure if he’d have any reason to hurt Rafael on purpose.

* * *

It came as no surprise that Sonny’s morning classes went right over his head. With the anticipation of the Head Auror’s arrival, Sonny’s mind kept going back to Rafael. And whatever motive Stone might have to want to attack him, or any other Gryffindor. 

He counted down the seconds, and as soon as they were dismissed, Mike and Sonny made their way to the infirmary in an incredibly fast pace. Somehow managing to be faster than the two Hufflepuffs, the rest of the group was already waiting outside the door.

“Anything?,” Mike asked as they approached.

“Auror Dodds asked us to wait here,” Carmen said, twisting her hands nervously.

So, they waited, and Sonny couldn’t stop pacing. He knew it was annoying the others, but he couldn’t help it. He was jittery, his hands sweaty, his mind running a hundred miles an hour. 

They had handed in everything they found, along with Rafael’s notes and what Nick and Olivia knew about Stone’s bracelet. He wasn’t sure if it was enough, he didn’t know if the Head Auror had managed to find said bracelet, or if Stone was being punished. 

He couldn’t help but think of unpleasant scenarios, and the one in which there was no way to bring Rafael back from his current state was close to driving Sonny out of his mind. So he paced.

When the doors finally opened, Sonny came to a screeching halt. Mike’s father came out, looking stoic and important in his dark red robes and heavy boots. For a moment, Sonny was sure he came bearing bad news.

“Dad?,” Mike spoke tentatively. “Did you find out what happened?”

“Yes, everything is clear now,” he said, and Sonny could breathe again. “You were right in your letter, this was the work of an errant heirloom curse, but not one we’re familiar with.”

“What do you mean?,” Carmen asked urgently. “Was it dark magic?”

“Not quite,” Auror Dodds said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure if I should be talking about this with 6th years, but since you brought me the theory, I’ll humor you.”

“Father, please,” Mike said disapprovingly. “Those are our friends in there, this isn’t a joke to us.”

Auror Dodds cleared his throat. “I understand. Well, Peter Stone’s bracelet was, indeed, cursed. The heirloom belonged to a distant relative of his, a blood purist, who cursed it to strip Half-Bloods of their magic.” 

“That’s disgusting,” Olivia spat, her face twisting in anger.

“It is,” he nodded pointedly. 

“What the hell is Stone doing in school with a cursed bracelet, then?,” Amanda asked, her hands balling into fists. “Is he insane? He knows Half-Bloods attend Hogwarts. He knows his  _ own  _ House is full of Half-Bloods, how irresponsible and self-righteous can someone be?”

“I believe it’s because he didn’t know about the curse,” he explained, and Sonny almost yelled. “He did not inherit the bracelet like he said, he took it from his family’s vault without anyone knowing.” 

“Pretentious dumbass,” Nick said under his breath, rolling his eyes.

“Is Stone going to be expelled?,” Carmen asked, confused.

“He should be, the irresponsible dick,” Rita added, and Auror Dodds shot her a displeased look. She wasn’t fazed. 

“That’s up for the Headmistress to decide,” he said with a pinched expression.

“What about the people in the infirmary?,” Sonny asked. “What’s going to happen to them?”

“Mr. Stone’s father is on his way back from Paris to cast the counter-spell. Everything should be sorted by the end of the day.”

“You mean everyone’s okay?,” Olivia asked, hopeful. 

Auror Dodds nodded. “The curse was designed to make Half-Blood’s magic dormant, to incapacitate them. In a long-term capacity, it can be damaging, but once the counter-spell is cast, they’ll be back to normal like nothing happened.”

Sonny let out a loud breath, closing his eyes for a second. He felt an arm come around his waist to support him, and opened his eyes to see Carmen smiling up at him. She looked as relieved as he felt.

“You’ve all worked incredibly well on this,” Auror Dodds said with an impressed look around the group. “If any of you happen to be interested in joining the Auror academy, send me an owl. We can talk about the program.”

Nick and Amanda immediately perked up, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, sir. We appreciate that,” Amanda said.

“I have some questions,” Carmen said, frowning. “How come only Stone’s father can cast the counter-spell?”

“This type of magic is linked by blood, therefore when Mr. Stone’s relative created it, he also bounded himself to the bracelet and its magic. So only someone from that same blood-line would be able to counter that.”

“And why is there not a trace?,” Carmen asked. “Why is it that nobody could identify it? And what would have happened if Rafael hadn’t researched the theory behind cursed objects? Would you have been able to identify the cause without the bracelet? And how did this curse  _ choose _ which Half-Bloods to attack? How is this not considered dark magic?”

“Carmen,” Rita said softly, resting a hand on her back. “Breathe.”

Auror Dodds blinked rapidly at her, overwhelmed. “ _ Some _ questions, I see. Why don’t you owl me? I’ll make sure to get to get back to you as soon as all this is solved.” 

“Yes, of course,” Carmen nodded. “I’m sorry. Just curious.” 

He smiled patiently, nodding back. “I understand. But I believe you all have classes to attend, and I have to wait for Mr. Stone’s family to arrive.”

“What’s going to happen to the bracelet?,” Mike asked.

“It’s going into the Ministry’s custody,” Auror Dodds said. “An object so unpredictable can’t be wondering the streets.”

“Neither should Stone,” Nick fumed. “He put the whole school in danger, and for what? Bragging rights for something he  _ stole _ ?”

“Again, it’s up to the Headmistress to decide his punishment,” he said as calmly as he could. “Mr. Stone didn’t know about the dangers, then.” 

“After four students collapsed from being in contact with him? Dad, you have to investigate this,” Mike insisted. “What if he did this on purpose?”

“He took Veritaserum, Michael,” he said shortly, and Mike sagged.

“Fine, Stone’s just stupid, then,” Mike mumbled.

“What else is new,” Amanda rolled her eyes. 

“You should go to class,” Auror Dodds said again, a little more curt this time. “And don’t tell anyone else about this. I’m sure Headmistress Barth is going to want to make an announcement herself.”

* * *

Sonny ran, as fast as his legs would allow him to go. He was glad he bolted out of class as soon as he could because that meant the corridors weren’t that busy yet, so he just  _ ran _ . 

Much like he had two nights ago, he threw his whole body against the infirmary doors, but this time Madam Warner wasn’t there to brandish her wand at him. This time his heart wasn’t breaking into a million pieces. This time, Rafael was awake, sitting up on the bed he’d been lying on.

This time, he looked up when the doors hit the wall, his smile widening when he saw Sonny.

Sonny continued his run towards him, grabbing Rafael’s face between his hands and kissing him. It was almost an uncomfortable kiss, because they were smiling too much, and their teeth clang together a couple times, but there was so much  _ relief _ coming out of him, Sonny just kept kissing Rafael.

He kissed Rafael’s whole face, small, reverent kisses that had Rafael laughing, holding Sonny’s wrists in place.

“ _ Finally _ ,” Sonny breathed against Rafael’s ear once he was satisfied. “I missed you.”

Rafael chuckled, leaning back to look at him. “I heard you’ve been playing hero in my absence.”

“No Raf, you don’t need me,” he shook his head with a small smile. “We found your notes and, from there, it was easy to figure it out. You saved yourself. You saved everyone.”

“Let’s agree it was a team effort,” Rafael whispered, kissing him again. “Thank you, Sonny.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Rafael pulled him into a hug, tucking his face into Sonny’s neck and breathing in deeply. They stood there for a few moments, and Sonny kept his nose pressed into Rafael’s hair, but that gave him a moment to look around the otherwise empty room.

“Where are the Gryffindors?,” he asked, frowning. The three other beds that had been occupied were now vacant.

“They had to be taken to St. Mungo’s after the counter-spell,” Rafael said sadly. “Their recovery isn’t going to be as fast considering how long their magic had been frozen. They need to be monitored for a while, but they’ll be fine, the Aurors said.”

Sonny nodded, remembering the Head Auror’s promises. “And you don’t need them to check on you? You’re okay?”

Rafael smiled. “Yeah, I feel perfectly fine. Madam Warner said I should keep doing simple spells regularly for the rest of today to make sure everything’s flowing regularly, but other than that, I’m good as new. And incredibly well-rested.”

Sonny watched silently as Rafael pulled out his wand, pointed it at a forgotten spoon by his bedside table, and flicked his wrist. In a blink of an eye, the spoon turned into a beautiful, colorful bouquet of roses. 

“Here, flowers for my hero,” Rafael said with a smug look, offering it to Sonny.

“I’m afraid you’ll need to transfigure flowers for Carmen, Rita, Nick, Olivia, Mike and Amanda, too,” Sonny teased. “We made a great team.”

“I’m glad my demise was the source of house-unity.” 

Sonny chuckled. “You have no idea how much, we’ve all been glued together for days now. You have a lot of people who care about you.”

Rafael’s eyes softened, and he reached up to brush Sonny’s fringe away from his eyes. “Yeah, I’m very, very lucky.”

“We found out about Stone together,” Sonny started. “Do you know if he had a problem with you or something?”

He sighed, his hand falling on Sonny’s chest. “To be honest, I never interacted much with him. We have one class together, though there hasn’t been a lot of contact. But Auror Dodds said the curse worked against people Stone had unpleasant feelings towards, so I don’t know.”

Sonny frowned. “He said that?”

“Yeah, apparently the other three Gryffindors were people he fought with, for whatever reason.”

“And you don’t remember doing anything that might have pissed him off the day you were attacked?,” Sonny tilted his head. 

Rafael thought for a moment. “I think I corrected him in class.”

“That’s it?”

“And Professor Donnelly took 15 points from Gryffindor because he told me to fuck off when I corrected him,” he winced. “I think for a moment there he hated me, and that was enough for the curse.”

Sonny rolled his eyes. “Very mature. I’d love to have a word with him, tell him--”

“No,” Rafael interrupted. “Forget about him, please. Auror Dodds told me he didn’t know about the bracelet, it was an accident, he wasn’t supposed to have brought it into Hogwarts.” 

Sonny sighed deeply. “So I can’t punch him for being stupid?”

Rafael chuckled. “No, I’d prefer you didn’t.”

“Fine, but you’re going to have to help me forget,” he said with a smirk, pulling Rafael against his chest and leaning down to kiss him.

Before he could, however, the doors banged open again and in came all their friends, woo-hooing and yelling and cooing, immediately pulling Rafael away from Sonny and into their arms for hugs, pats on the back, and even a couple tears - courtesy of Carmen.

“I was so worried,” Carmen said, hugging him tightly. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I won’t,” Rafael said with a smile. “But if it ever happens again, I know I can count on you to crack the code for me.”

Carmen waved him off, and Olivia pulled him into a hug next.

He was still making the rounds between their friends when Headmistress Barth walked in, smiling softly, satisfied.

“Mr. Barba,” she greeted. “Welcome back. I’m glad to see you’ve recovered well, and I know you have your friends to thank for that.”

Rafael smiled. “Yeah, they’re okay.” 

Barth chuckled, looking around the group. “Indeed. Which is why I wanted to reward all of you. 50 points each, for working together, taking responsibility and helping a friend in need.” 

The group gasped in unison, and Sonny couldn’t help but feel pride swelling in his chest.

Headmistress Barth turned to Rafael. “And 60 for you, Mr. Barba. I know I told you to stop your research, but I’m glad you didn’t.”

Rafael gaped at her, blinking, surprised. “Headmistress, I didn’t--”

“No need to be humble, Rafael,” Carmen cut him off. “You saved yourself and three other students, you deserve this.” 

“Thank you,” he whispered, smiling at Barth.

“I’ll let you go back to celebrating with your friends,” she said, stepping away. “You can have tomorrow off, Mr. Barba, but you better make up for your lost time.”

“Absolutely,” Rafael nodded. “I appreciate that, Headmistress.”

Once the doors closed behind Barth, the room exploded in noise again. Sonny wrapped an arm around Rafael’s waist, pulling him closer as the others celebrated all the House points they had earned. 

“I have something that I wanted to ask you,” Sonny whispered to him, holding him tight.

“Yeah?,” Rafael smiled up at him, and by the glint in his eyes, he knew what the question was. “What is it?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?,” Sonny asked between them. “Officially?”

Rafael beamed, nodding, and pulled him into a kiss. Around them, their friends became even louder in their celebration. 

Sonny just couldn’t help but think that 6th year was, in fact, the best one yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! But hold on -- there's still an epilogue, with the very last Quidditch game of the school year. I can try to post it before Monday, if you'd like? I'll put up a poll on my twitter (@pastelpinktv), so make sure you go over there to vote for when you want the epilogue.
> 
> Meanwhile, I'm working on ch3 of the sequel -- it's coming fast -- and I'd love to hear what you liked about this story so I can try to make the sequel even better! Leave a comment with your thoughts! 
> 
> About who cursed the students: I had two options when I decided that the culprit would be Stone: 1. make him a wizard mastermind with magic powerful enough to curse half-bloods or 2. make him a stupid ass schoolboy who has no idea what he's doing. Given everything we know about Peter Stone, the second option spoke to me, you know? hahah
> 
> MWAH see you soon with the epilogue!!!


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last Quidditch game of the school year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so, so much for reading this story! I loved writing it; so much so that I’ve currently got 8k ready for the sequel! 
> 
> I hope you like this little soft addition too, I wanted it to end all happy and sweet. Enjoy!

Rafael had never cared much for Quidditch, and yet there he was in Ravenclaw’s stands, his heart about to leap out of his chest, his throat raw from yelling. Because it was the last game of the school year, and Hufflepuff was playing against Gryffindor for the House Quidditch Cup. 

He wouldn’t be mad if Gryffindor won - and he knew that neither would Sonny -, after all, they’d had quite a rough year and Nick was their friend, but Rafael had seen all of Sonny’s efforts, he’d watched as Sonny went over strategies in his head, he’d seen him worry, he’d listened to the pep-talks he gave his teammates. Sonny was an amazing, dedicated Captain, and he deserved this. 

So Rafael, as his boyfriend, was going to scream for him until his throat completely stopped working, shamelessly waving a Hufflepuff flag from the Ravenclaw crowd.

He’d been watching Sonny more than the game itself, although he knew the score was tied. So when Sonny perked up, flattened himself against his broom and shot down in rapid speed, Rafael knew what that meant.

“Oh my god,” Rafael exclaimed, grabbing Carmen’s hand. “Oh my god!”

Sonny’s speed didn’t let up, and he was approaching the ground alarmingly fast. Rafael had seen him do this particular maneuver countless times, but it never failed to knock the air out of his lungs. Why did they call this sport Quidditch and not Murder Game? It was  _ way  _ too dangerous. 

“Ouch,” Carmen hissed, trying to pull her hand away from his. “I swear you’re gonna break my hand before this game is over.”

“He saw it, Carmen, he saw the snitch!,” Rafael yelled, his eyes never leaving Sonny. “Oh my god. Come on, come on, come on.”

Right before Sonny collapsed head-first into the grass, he pulled his broom handle back up sharply, and it was so amazingly smooth it was beautiful to see. 

Now Sonny was flying close to the ground, his arm stretched out, and Rafael could barely see the glint of the Golden Snitch from this distance, but he knew Sonny was close. But closer than Sonny’s hand to the snitch was Sonny’s body approaching Slytherin’s stands. 

“He’s going to hit the stands,” Carmen gasped, worried. 

“No, he won’t,” Rafael said, his body leaning forward so far he was almost hanging off his seat. “He won’t.”

And he didn’t. 

The snitch zoomed up and away from Sonny, who took a sharp turn to the left, then up, completely missing the Slytherin stand, but flying right by the students’ heads as he pulled himself away just in time. 

The Gryffindor Seeker had been following Sonny from a safe distance, so when the snitch changed its course, she was much closer to it. 

“No!,” Rafael yelled. “Sonny, come on!”

She flew up, following the golden path with her hand stretched out, and Rafael could almost hear Sonny’s frustrated grunt when he did a 180º and started following her. Good thing he was fast, because he ate the distance between them in seconds, flying side by side with the Gryffindor Seeker, going up and up and up. 

The crowds were going wild, watching with rapid attention as both Seekers fought for the imminent win. Rafael stopped breathing, too focused on yellow and red robes mashing together towards the sky. 

Out of nowhere, the snitch turned again, and the Gryffindor Seeker missed it, keeping her broom pointing up, while Sonny’s followed the direction of the snitch flawlessly, as if he were glued to it. 

Then, in what was probably the most professional maneuver they’d seen that year, Sonny made a quick and short dive down, stretched out his hand above his head, and flew up again. 

His hand closed around the Golden Snitch, and everything stopped. 

“Carisi caught the Golden Snitch,” Mike yelled over the speakers. “Hufflepuff wins!”

Rafael let out the breath he’d been holding, then started yelling along with every single other student - well, except for the Gryffindors -, cheering and clapping. He got choked up for a moment, watching Sonny waving his gloved hand in the air as the snitch closed its wings around itself, his smile so big it was blinding.

“He did it,” Rafael sobbed, pulling Carmen into a hug. 

“He really did,” Carmen replied, laughing. “Look, here he comes.”

Rafael looked up in time to see Sonny flying towards the Ravenclaw stands. He stopped right in front of Rafael, and stretched out his arm, opening his hand to show the dormant snitch. 

“For you,” Sonny said, his cheeks red, his eyes sparkling, smiling his most charming smile. 

Feeling choked up again, Rafael took the snitch with one hand, and grabbed Sonny’s jersey with the other, pulling him in for a kiss. 

“Congratulations, Captain,” he whispered against Sonny’s lips, then let him go.

Sonny flew back in outlandish loops, laughing joyously. When he made his way to the ground, his team immediately surrounded him. Hufflepuff’s two Beaters lifted him up on their shoulders, and Silvia handed Sonny the gold Quidditch Cup, which he then lifted in the air for the Hufflepuff students in the stands to see. 

It was loud, and beautiful, and such a free display of happiness, Rafael wanted to store and cherish this memory forever. 

“I’m not even sad Ravenclaw ended up in third place,” Carmen said beside him, still clapping. 

Rafael nodded in agreement. Sadness was far from what he was feeling, the love blooming in his chest far too overwhelming for that. He was proud, relieved, stupidly happy, and hopelessly in love.

Looking down at the Golden Snitch in his hand, Rafael beamed. He couldn’t wait to do this all over again next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for making this story my 4th most commented! I swear to God your response and your participation make it SO much better. I look forward to everything you have to say, and it brighten my days to be able to reply to you and discuss ideias. 
> 
> So this is for you, and so is the sequel. MWAH!

**Author's Note:**

> You've voted for updates on Monday and Wednesday, so check back for another chapter on those days! I hope you've like this setup so far, but let me know what you'd like to see in the future because I do plan on adding a second part to this verse. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a lil kudo too! MWAH


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